THE 


MYTHS  OF  THE  NEW  WORLD: 


A    TREATISE 


SYMBOLISM  AKD  MYTHOLOGY 


EED  EACE  OF  AMERICA. 


BY 
DANIEL  G.  BRINTON,  A.  M.,  M.D., 

MEMBER  OF  THE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA,  OF  THE  NUMISMATIC 

AND  ANTIQUARIAN  SOCIETY  OF  PHILADELPHIA  ;  CORRESPONDING  MEMBER 

OF  THE  AMERICAN    ETHNOLOGICAL  SOCIETY;    AUTHOR   OF  "NOTES 

ON  THE  FLORIDIAN  PENINSULA,"  ETC. 


NEW    YORK: 
LEYPOLDT    &    HOLT 

1868. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1868,  by 
DANIEL    GK    BRINTON, 

in  the  Office  of  the  Clerk  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  in 
and  for  the  Eastern  District  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania. 


PHILADELPHIA : 
COLLINS,  PRINTER,  705  JAYNE  STREET. 


PREFACE. 


I  HAVE  written  this  work  more  for  the  thoughtful 
general  reader  than  the  antiquary.  It  is  a  study  of  an 
obscure  portion  of  the  intellectual  history  of  our  species 
as  exemplified  in  one  of  its  varieties. 

What  are  man's  earliest  ideas  of  a  soul  and  a  God, 
and  of  his  own  origin  and  destiny  ?  Why  do  we  find 
certain  myths,  such  as  of  a  creation,  a  flood,  an  after- 
world;  certain  symbols,  as  the  bird,  the  serpent,  the 
cross ;  certain  numbers,  as  the  three,  the  four,  the  seven — 
intimately  associated  with  these  ideas  by  every  race  ? 
What  are  the  laws  of  growth  of  natural  religions  ?  How 
do  they  acquire  such  an  influence,  and  is  this  influence 
for  good  or  evil?  Such  are  some  of  the  universally 
interesting  questions  which  I  attempt  to  solve  by  an 
analysis  of  the  simple  faiths  of  a  savage  race. 

If  in  so  doing  I  succeed  in  investing  with  a  more 
general  interest  the  fruitful  theme  of  American  ethno 
logy,  my  objects  will  have  been  accomplished. 

PHILADELPHIA, 
April,  1868. 


CONTEXTS 


CHAPTER    I. 

GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS  OP  THE  RED  RACE. 

PAGE 

Natural  religions  the  unaided  attempts  of  man  to  find  out  God, 
modified  by  peculiarities  of  race  and  nation. — The  peculiarities  of 
the  red  race :  1.  Its  languages  unfriendly  to  abstract  ideas.  Na 
tive  modes  of  writing  by  means  of  pictures,  symbols,  objects,  and 
phonetic  signs.  These  various  methods  compared  in  their  influ 
ence  on  the  intellectual  faculties.  2.  Its  isolation,  unique  in  the 
history  of  the  world.  3.  Beyond  all  others,  a  hunting  race. — 
Principal  linguistic  subdivisions  :  1.  The  Eskimos.  2.  The  Atha- 
pascas.  3.  The  Algonkins  and  Iroquois.  4.  The  Apalachian 
tribes.  5.  The  Dakotas.  6.  The  Aztecs.  7.  The  Mayas.  8.  The 
Muyscas.  9.  The  Quichuas.  10.  The  Caribs  and  Tupis.  11.  The 
Araucanians. — General  course  of  migrations. — Age  of  man  in 
America. — Unity  of  type  in  the  red  race 1 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE   IDEA   OF   GOD. 

An  intuition  common  to  the  species. — Words  expressing  it  in  Ameri 
can  languages  derived  either  from  ideas  of  above  in  space,  ojr  of 
life  manifested  by  breath. — Examples. — No  conscious  monotheism, 
and  but  little  idea  of  immateriality  discoverable. — Still  less  any 
moral  dualism  of  deities,  the  Great  Good  Spirit  and  the  Great  Bad 
Spirit  being  alike  terms  and  notions  of  foreign  importation  .  .  43 


vi  CONTENTS. 

• 

CHAPTER    III. 

THE   SACRED   NUMBER,    ITS   ORIGIN  AND  APPLICATIONS. 

PAGE 

The  number  FOUR  sacred  in  all  American  religions,  and  the  key  to  . 
their  symbolism. — Derived  from  the  CARDINAL  POINTS. — Appears 
constantly  in  government,  arts,  rites,  and  myths. — The  Cardinal 
Points  identified  with  the  Four  Winds,  who  in  myths  are  the  four 
ancestors  of  the  human  race,  and  the  four  celestial  rivers  watering 
the  terrestrial  Paradise. — Associations  grouped  around  each  Car 
dinal  Point. — From  the  number  four  was  derived  the  symbolic 
value  of  the  number  Forty  and  the  Sign  of  the  Cross  .  .  .66 

CHAPTER    IV. 

THE  SYMBOLS  OF  THE  BIRD  AND  THE  SERPENT. 

Relations  of  man  to  the  lower  animals. — Two  of  these,  the  BIRD  and 
the  SERPENT,  chosen  as  symbols  beyond  all  others. — The  Bird 
throughout  America  the  symbol  of  the  Clouds  and  Winds — Mean 
ing  of  certain  species. — The  symbolic  meaning  of  the  Serpent  de 
rived  from  its  mode  of  locomotion,  its  poisonous  bite,  and  its 
power  of  charming. — Usually  the  symbol  of  the  lightning  and  the 
Waters.— The  Rattlesnake  the  symbolic  species  in  America.— The 
war  charm. — The  Cross  of  Palenque.— The  god  of  riches. — Both 
symbols  devoid  of  moral  significance  .....  99 

CHAPTER    V. 


\ 


THE  MYTHS  OF  WATER,  FIRE,  AND  THE  THUNDER-STORM. 

Water  the  oldest  element. — Its  use  in  purification. — Holy  water.  — The 
Rite  of  Baptism.— The  Water  of  Life.— Its  symbols.— The  Vase.— 
The  Moon. — The  latter  the  goddess  of  love  and  agriculture,  but 
also  of  sickness,  night,  and  pain. — Often  represented  by  a  dog. — 
Fire  worship  under  the  form  of  Sun  worship. — The  perpetual  fire. — 
The  njew  fire. — Burning  the  dead. — A  worship  of  the  passions,  but 
no  sexual  dualism  in  myths,  nor  any  phallic  worship  in  America. — 
Synthesis  of  the  worship  of  Fire,  Water,  and  the  Winds  in  the 
THUNDER-STORM,  personified  as  Haokah,  Tupa,  Catequil,  Contici, 
Heno,  Tlaloc,  Mixcoatl,  and  other  deities,  many  of  them  triune  122 


CONTENTS.  vii 

CHAPTER    VI. 

THE  SUPREME  GODS  OF  THE  BED  RACE. 

PAGE 

Analysis  of  American  culture  myths. — The  Manibozho  or  Michabo 
of  the  Algonkins  shown  to  be  an  impersonation  *>f  LIGHT,  a  hero 
of  the  Dawn,  and  their  highest  deity. — The  myths  of 'loskeha  of 
the  Iroquois,  Viracocha  of  the  Peruvians,  and  Quetzalcoatl  of  the 
Toltecs  essentially  the  same  as  that  of  Michabo. — Other  exam 
ples. — Ante-Columbian  prophecies  of  the  advent  of  a  white  race 
from  the  east  as  conquerors. — Rise  of  later  culture  myths  under 
similar  forms .  .  159 

CHAPTER    VII. 

THE  MYTHS  OF  THE  CREATION,  THE  DELUGE,  THE  EPOCHS  OF 
NATURE,  AND  THE  LAST  DAY. 

L  Cosmogonies  usually  portray  the  action  of  the  SPIRIT  on  the 
WATERS. — Those  of  the  Muscogees,  Atha^ascas,  Quiches,  Mixtecs, 
Iroquois,  Algonkins,  and  others. — [The  Flood-Myth  an  uncon 
scious  attempt  to  reconcile  a  creation  in  time  with  the  eternity  of 
matter. — Proof  of  this  from  American  mythology. -""Characteristics  v  « 
of  American  Flood-Myths. -i-T_be  person  saved  usually  the  first  ^ 
man. — The  number  seven.— -Their  Ararats. — The  role  of  birds. — 
The  confusion  of  tongues.— ^The  Aztec,  Quiche,  Algonkin,  Tupi, 
and  earliest  Sanscrit  flood-myths.)— The  belief  in  Epochs  of  Nature 
a  further  result  of  this  attempt  at  reconciliation. — Its  forms  among 
Peruvians,  Mayas,  and  Aztecs. — The  expectation  of  the  End  of  the 
World  a  corollary  of  this  belief. — Views  of  various  nations  .  193 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE   ORIGIN   OF  MAN. 

Usually  man  is  the  EARTH-BORN,  both  in  language  and  myths. — Il 
lustrations  from  the  legends  of  the  Caribs,  Apalachians,  Iroquois,          • 
Quichuas,   Aztecs,   and  others. — The  under-world. — Man   the  pro-  I 

duct  of  one  of  the  primal  creative  powers,  the  Spirit,  or  the  Water,          • 
in  the  myths  of  the  Athapascas,  Eskimos,  Moxos,  and  others. — 
Never  literally  derived  from  an  inferior  species      .  .         .  222 


COX^EXTS. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE    SOUL   AND   ITS   DESTINY. 

PAGE 

Universality  of  the  belief  in  a  soul  and  a  future  state  shown  by  the 
aboriginal  tongues,  by  expressed  opinions,  and  by  sepulchral  rites. 
The  future  world  never  a  place  of  rewards  and  punishments. — The 
house  of  the  Sun  the  heaven  of  the  red  man. — The  terrestrial  para 
dise  and  the  under-world. — §upay. — Xibalba. — Mictlan.— Metem 
psychosis? — Belief  in  a  resurrection  of  the  dead  almost  universal  233 


CHAPTER    X. 

THE   NATIVE   PRIESTHOOD. 

Their  titles. — Practitioners  of  the  healing  art  by  supernatural  means. 
— Their  power  derived  from  natural  magic  and  the  exercise  of  the 
clairvoyant  and  mesmeric  faculties. — Examples. — Epidemic  hyste 
ria. — Their  social  position. — Their  duties  as  religious  function 
aries. — Terms  of  admission  to  the  Priesthood. — Inner  organization 
in  various  nations. — Their  esoteric  language  and  secret  societies  263 


CHAPTER    XI. 

THE   INFLUENCE   OP   THE   NATIVE   RELIGIONS   ON   THE  MORAL 
AND   SOCIAL   LIFE   OF   THE   RACE. 

Natural  religions  hitherto  considered  of  Evil  rather  than  of  Good. — 
Distinctions  to  be  drawn. — Morality  not  derived  from  religion. — 
The  positive  side  of  natural  religions  in  incarnations  of  divinity. — 
Examples. — Prayers  as  indices  of  religious  progress. — Religion  and 
social  advancement. — Conclusion  '•"  •  .  .  .  .  287 


THE  MYTHS  OF  THE  NEW  WORLD, 


CHAPTEE  I. 

GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS  ON  THE  RED  RACE. 

Natural  religions  the  unaided  attempts  of  man  to  find  out  God,  modified 
by  peculiarities  of  race  and  nation. — The  peculiarities  of  the  red  race  : 
1.  Its  languages  unfriendly  to  abstract  ideas.  Native  modes  of  writing 
by  means  of  pictures,  symbols,  objects,  and  phonetic  signs.  These 
various  methods  compared  in  their  influence  on  the  intellectual  facul 
ties.  2.  Its  isolation,  unique  in  the  history  of  the  world.  3.  Beyond 
all  others,  a  hunting  race. — Principal  linguistic  subdivisions  :  1.  The 
Eskimos.  2.  The  Athapascas.  3.  The  Algonkins  and  Iroquois.  4. 
The  Apalachian  tribes.  5.  The  Dakotas.  6.  The  Aztecs.  7.  The 
Mayas.  8.  The  Mnyscas.  9.  The  Quichuas.  10.  The  Caribs  and 
Tupis.  11.  The  Araucanians. — General  course  of  migrations. — Age  of 
man  in  America. — Unity  of  type  in  the  red  race. 

TTTHEN  Paul,  at  the  request  of  the  philosophers  of 
Athens,  explained  to  them  his  views  on  divine 
things,  he  asserted,  among  other  startling  novelties, 
that  "  God  has  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  the 
earth,  that  they  should  seek  the  Lord,  if  haply  they 
might  feel  after  him  and  find  him,  though  he  is  not 
far  from  every  one  of  us." 

Here  was  an  orator  advocating  the  unity  of  the 
human  species,  affirming  that  the  chief  end  of  man  is 
to  develop  an  innate  idea  of  God,  and  that  all  reli 
gions,  except  the  one  he  preached,  were  examples  of 
1 


2      GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS  ON  THE  RED  RACE. 

more  or  less  unsuccessful  attempts  to  do  so.  No 
wonder  the  Athenians,  who  acknowledged  no  kinship 
to  barbarians,  who  looked  dubiously  at  the  doctrine 
of  innate  ideas,  and  were  divided  in  opinion  as  to 
whether  their  mythology  was  a  shrewd  device  of  le 
gislators  to  keep  the  populace  in  subjection,  a  veiled 
natural  philosophy,  or  the  celestial  reflex  of  their 
own  history,  mocked  at  such  a  babbler  and  went 
their  ways.  The  generations  of  philosophers  that 
followed  them  partook  of  their  doubts  and  approved 
their  opinions,  quite  down  to  our  own  times.  But 
now,  after  weighing  the  question  maturely,  we  are 
compelled  to  admit  that  the  Apostle  was  not  so  wide 
of  the  mark  after  all — that,  in  fact,  the  latest  and 
best  authorities,  with  no  bias  in  his  favor,  support 
his  position  and  may  almost  be  said  to  paraphrase  his 
words.  For  according  to  a  writer  who  ranks  second 
to  none  in  the  science  of  ethnology,  the  severest  and 
most  recent  investigations  show  that  "not  only  do 
acknowledged  facts  permit  the  assumption  of  the 
unity  of  the  human  species,  but  this  opinion  is  at 
tended  with  fewer  discrepancies,  and  has  greater 
inner  consistency  than  the  opposite  one  of  specific 
diversity."1  And  as  to  the  religions  of  heathendom, 
the  view  of  Saint  Paul  is  but  expressed  with  a  more 
poetic  turn  by  a  distinguished  living  author  when 
he  calls  them  "  not  fables,  but  truths,  though  clothed 
in  a  garb  woven  by  fancy,  wherein  the  web  is  the 
notion  of  God,  the  ideal  of  reason  in  the  soul  of  man, 
the  thought  of  the  Infinite."2 

1  Waitz,  Anthropologie  der  Naturvoelker,  i.  p.  256. 

2  Carriere,  Die  Kunst  im  Zusammenhang  der  Culturentwicke- 
lung,  i.  p.  66. 


ABORIGINAL  RELIGIONS  OF  AMERICA.  3 

Inspiration  and  science  unite  therefore  to  bid  us 
dismiss  the  effete  prejudice  that  natural  religions 
either  arise  as  the  ancient  philosophies  taught,  or 
that  they  are,  as  the  Dark  Ages  imagined,  subtle  nets 
of  the  devil  spread  to  catch  human  souls.  They  are 
rather  the  unaided  attempts  of  man  to  find  out  God,; 
they  are  the  efforts  of  the  reason  struggling  to  define 
the  infinite ;  they  are  the  expressions  of  that  "  yearn 
ing  after  the  gods"  which  the  earliest  of  poets  dis 
cerned  in  the  hearts  of  all  men.  Studied  in  this 
sense  they  are  rich  in  teachings.  Would  we  estimate 
the  intellectual  and  aesthetic  culture  of  a  people, 
would  we  generalize  the  laws  of  progress,  would  we 
appreciate  the  sublimity  of  Christianity,  and  read  the 
seals  of  its  authenticity :  the  natural  conceptions  of 
divinity  reveal  them.  No  mythologies  are  so  crude, 
therefore,  none  so  barbarous,  but  deserve  the  atten 
tion  of  the  philosophic  mind,  for  they  are  never  the 
empty  fictions  of  an  idle  fancy,  but  rather  the  utter 
ances,  however  inarticulate,  of  an  immortal  and  ubi 
quitous  intuition. 

These  considerations  embolden  me  to  approach 
with  some  confidence  even  the  aboriginal  religions 
of  America,  so  often  stigmatized  as  incoherent  feti- 
chisms,  so  barren,  it  has  been  said,  in  grand  or  beau 
tiful  creations.  The  task  bristles  with  difficulties. 
Carelessness,  prepossessions,  and  ignorance  have  dis 
figured  them,  with  false  colors  and  foreign  additions 
without  number.  The  first  maxim,  therefore,  must 
be  to  sift  and  scrutinize  authorities,  and  to  reject 
whatever  betrays  the  plastic  hand  of  the  European. 
For  the  religions  developed  by  the  red  race,  not  those 
mixed  creeds  learned  from  foreign  invaders,  are  to  be 


4      GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS  ON  THE  RED  RACE. 

the  subjects  of  our  study.  Then  will  remain  the  for 
midable  undertaking  of  reducing  the  authentic  mate 
rials  thus  obtained  to  system  and  order,  and  this  not 
by  any  preconceived  theory  of  what  they  ought  to 
conform  to,  but  learning  from  them  the  very  laws 
of  religious  growth  they  illustrate.  The  historian 
traces  the  birth  of  arts,  science,  and  government  to 
man's  dependence  on  nature  and  his  fellows  for  the 
means  of  self-preservation.  Not  that  man  receives 
these  endowments  from  without,  but  that  the  stern 
step-mother,  Nature,  forces  him  by  threats  and  stripes 
to  develop  his  own  inherent  faculties.  So  with 
religion.  The  idea  of  God  does  not,  and  cannot,  pro 
ceed  from  the  external  world,  but,  nevertheless,  it 
finds  its  historical  origin  also  in  the  desperate  struggle 
for  life,  in  the  satisfaction  of  the  animal  wants  and 
passions,  in  those  vulgar  aims  and  motives  which 
possessed  the  mind  of  the  primitive  man  to  the  ex 
clusion  of  everything  else. 

There  is  an  ever  present  embarrassment  in  such  in 
quiries.  In  dealing  with  these  matters  beyond  the 
cognizance  of  the  senses,  the  mind  is  forced  to  ex 
press  its  meaning  in  terms  transferred  from  sensuous 
perceptions,  or  under  symbols  borrowed  from  the 
material  world.  These  transfers  must  be  understood, 
these  symbols  explained,  before  the  real  meaning  of 
a  myth  can  be  reached.  He  who  fails  to  guess  the 
riddle  of  the  sphynx,  need  not  hope  to  gain  admit 
tance  to  the  shrine.  With  delicate  ear  the  faint 
whispers  of  thought  must  be  apprehended  which 
prompt  the  intellect  when  it  names  the  immaterial 
from  the  material ;  when  it  chooses  from  the  infinity 
of  visible  forms  those  meet  to  shadow  forth  Divinity. 


THE  MEANING  OF  MYTHS.  5 

Two  lights  will  guide  us  on  this  venturesome  path. 
Mindful  of  the  watchword  of  inductive  science,  to 
proceed  from  the  known  to  the  unknown,  the  inquiry 
will  be  put  whether  the  aboriginal  languages  of  Ame 
rica  employ  the  same  tropes  to  express  such  ideas 
as  deity,  spirit,  and  soul,  as  our  own  and  kindred 
tongues.  If  the  answer  prove  affirmative,  then  not 
only  have  we  gained  a  firm  foothold  whence  to  sur 
vey  the  whole  edifice  of  their  mythology ;  but  from 
an  unexpected  quarter  arises  evidence  of  tRe  unity  of 
our  species  far  weightier  than  any  mere  anatomy  can 
furnish,  evidence  from  the  living  soul,  not  from  the 
dead  body.  True  that  the  science  of  American  lin  • 
guistics  is  still  in  its  infancy,  and  that  a  proper  hand 
ling  of  the  materials  it  even  now  offers  involves  a 
more  critical  acquaintance  with  its  innumerable 
dialects  than  I  possess;  but  though  the  gleaning 
be  sparse,  it  is  enough  that  I  break  the  ground. 
Secondly,  religious  rites  are  living  commentaries  on 
religious  beliefs.  At  first  they  are  rude  representa 
tions  of  the  supposed  doings  of  the  gods.  The  Indian 
rain-maker  mounts  to  the  roof  of  his  hut,  and  rat 
tling  vigorously  a  dry  gourd  containing  pebbles,  to 
represent  the  thunder,  scatters  water  through  a  reed 
on  the  ground  beneath,  as  he  imagines  up  above  in 
the  clouds  do  the  spirits  of  the  storm.  Every  spring 
in  ancient  Delphi  was  repeated  in  scenic  ceremony 
the  combat  of  Apollo  and  the  Dragon,  the  victory  of 
the  lord  of  bright  summer  over  the  demon  of  chill 
ing  winter.  Thus  do  forms  and  ceremonies  reveal 
the  meaning  of  mythology,  and  the  origin  of  its 
fables. 

Let  it  not  be  objected  that  this  proposed  method  of 


6      GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS  ON  THE  RED  RACE. 

analysis  assumes  that  religions  begin  and  develop 
under  the  operation  of  inflexible  laws.  The  soul  is 
shackled  by  no  fatalism.  Formative  influences  there 
are,  deep  seated,  far  reaching,  escaped  by  few,  but 
like  those  which  of  yore  astrologers  imputed  to  the 
stars,  they  potently  incline,  they  do  not  coerce. 
Language,  pursuits,  habits,  geographical  position,  and 
those  subtle  mental  traits  which  make  up  the  cha 
racteristics  of  races  and  nations,  all  tend  to  deflect 
from  a  given  standard  the  religious  life  of  the  indi 
vidual  and  the  mass.  It  is  essential  to  give  these  due 
weight,  and  a  necessary  preface  therefore  to  an  analy 
sis  of  the  myths  of  the  red  race  is  an  enumeration  of 
its  peculiarities,  and  of  its  chief  families  as  they  were 
located  when  first  known  to  the  historian. 

Of  all  such  modifying  circumstances  none  has 
greater  importance  than  the  means  of  expressing  and 
transmitting  intellectual  action.  The  spoken  and  the 
written  language  of  a  nation  reveal  to  us  its  prevail 
ing,  and  to  a  certain  degree  its  unavoidable  mode  of 
thought.  Here  the  red  race  offers  a  striking  pheno 
menon.  There  is  no  other  trait  that  binds  together 
its  scattered  clans,  and  brands  them  as  members  of 
one  great  family,  so  unmistakably  as  this  of  lan 
guage.  From  the  Frozen  Ocean  to  the  Land  of  Fire, 
without  a  single  exception,  the  native  dialects,  though 
varying  infinitely  in  words,  are  marked  by  a  pecu 
liarity  in  construction  which  is  found  nowhere  else 
on  the  globe,1  and  which  is  so  foreign  to  the  genius  of 

1  It  is  said  indeed  that  the  Yebus,  a  people  on  the  west  coast  of 
Africa,  speak  a  polysynthetic  language,  and  per  contra,  that  the 
Otoinis  of  Mexico  have  a  monosyllabic  one  like  the  Chinese. 
Max  Mueller  goes  further,  and  asserts  that  what  is  called  the  pro- 


THE  NATIVE  LANGUAGES. 

OUT  tongue  that  it  is  no  easy  matter  to  explain  it.  It  is 
called  by  philologists  the  polysynthetic  construction. 
What  it  is  will  best  appear  by  comparison.  Every 
grammatical  sentence  conveys  one  leading  idea  with 
its  modifications  and  relations.  Now  a  Chinese  would 
express  these  latter  by  unconnected  syllables,  the  pre 
cise  bearing  of  which  could  only  be  guessed  by  their 
position ;  a  Greek  or  a  German  would  use  independ 
ent  words,  indicating  their  relations  by  terminations 
meaningless  in  themselves;  an  Englishman  gains  the 
same  end  chiefly  by  the  use  of  particles  and  by  posi 
tion.  Yery  different  from  all  these  is  the  spirit  of  a 
polysynthetic  language.  It  seeks  to  unite  in  the 
most  intimate  manner  all  relations  and  modifications 
with  the  leading  idea,  to  merge  one  in  the  other  by 
altering  the  forms  of  the  words  themselves  and  weld 
ing  them  together,  to  express  the  whole  in  one 
word,  and  to  banish  any  conception  except  as  it  arises 
in  relation  to  others.  Thus  in  many  American 
tongues  there  is,  in  fact,  no  word  for  father,  mother, 
brother,  but  only  for  my,  your,  his  father,  etc.  This 
has  advantages  and  defects.  It  offers  marvellous 
facilities  for  defining  the  perceptions  of  the  senses 
with  the  utmost  accuracy,  but  regarding  everything 
in  the  concrete,  it  is  unfriendly  to  the  nobler  labors 
of  the  mind,  to  abstraction  and  generalization.  In 
the  numberless  changes  of  these  languages,  their  be- 

cess  of  agglutination  in  the  Turanian  languages  is  the  same  as 
what  has  been  named  polysynthesis  in  America.  This  is  not  to 
be  conceded.  In  the  former  the  root  is  unchangeable,  the  forma 
tive  elements  follow  it,  and  prefixes  are  not  used ;  in  the  latter 
prefixes  are  common,  and  the  formative  elements  are  blended 
with  the  root,  both  undergoing  changes  of  structure.  Yery  im 
portant  differences. 


8      GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS  ON  THE  RED  RACE. 

wildering  flexibility,  their  variable  forms,  and  their 
rapid  deterioration,  they  seem  to  betray  a  lack  of  in 
dividuality,  and  to  resemble  the  vague  and  tumultu 
ous  history  of  the  tribes  who  employ  them.  They 
exhibit  an  almost  incredible  laxity.  It  is  nothing 
uncommon  for  the  two  sexes  to  use  different  names 
for  the  same  object,  and  for  nobles  and  vulgar,  priests 
and  people,  the  old  and  the  young,  nay,  even  the 
married  and  single,  to  observe  what  seem  to  the 
European  ear  quite  different  modes  of  expression. 
Families  and  whole  villages  suddenly  drop  words  and 
manufacture  others  in  their  places  out  of  mere  caprice 
or  superstition,  and  a  few  years'  separation  suffices  to 
produce  a  marked  dialectic  difference.  In  their  copi 
ous  forms  and  facility  of  reproduction  they  remind 
one  of  those  anomalous  animals,  in  whom,  when  a 
limb  is  lopped,  it  rapidly  grows  again,  or  even  if  cut 
in  pieces  each  part  will  enter  on  a  separate  life  quite 
unconcerned  about  his  fellows.  But  as  the  naturalist 
is  far  from  regarding  this  superabundant  vitality  as 
a  characteristic  of  a  higher  type,  so  the  philologist 
justly  assigns  these  tongues  a  low  position  in  the 
linguistic  scale.  Fidelity  to  form,  here  as  every 
where,  is  the  test  of  excellence.  At  the  outset,  we 
divine  there  can  be  nothing  very  subtle  in  the  mytho 
logies  of  nations  with  such  languages.  Much  there 
must  be  that  will  be  obscure,  much  that  is  vague,  an 
exhausting  variety  in  repetition,  and  a  strong  ten 
dency  to  lose  the  idea  in  the  symbol. 

What  deriniteness  of  outline  might  be  preserved 
must  depend  on  the  care  with  which  the  old  stories 
of  the  gods  were  passed  from  one  person  and  one 
generation  to  another.  The  fundamental  myths  of  a 


PICTURE  WRITING.  9 

race  have  a  surprising  tenacity  of  life.  How  many 
centuries  had  elapsed  between  the  period  the  Ger 
manic  hordes  left  their  ancient  homes  in  Central  Asia, 
and  when  Tacitus  listened  to  their  wild  songs  on  the 
banks  of  the  Ehine  ?  Yet  we  know  that  through 
those  unnumbered  ages  of  barbarism  and  aimless 
.roving,  these  songs,  "their  only  sort  of  history  or 
annals,"  says  the  historian,  had  preserved  intact  the 
story  of  Mannus,  the  Sanscrit  Manu,  and  his  three 
sons,  and  of  the  great  god  Tuisco,  the  Indian  Dyu.1 
So  much  the  more  do  all  means  invented  by  the  red 
race  to  record  and  transmit  thought  merit  our  care 
ful  attention.  Few  and  feeble  they  seem  to  us,  mainly 
shifts  to  aid  the  memory.  Of  some  such,  perhaps, 
not  a  single  tribe  was  destitute.  The  tattoo  marks  on 
the  warrior's  breast,  his  string  of  gristly  scalps,  the 
bear's  claws  around  his  neck,  were  not  only  trophies 
of  his  prowess,  but  records  of  his  exploits,  and  to 
the  contemplative  mind  contain  the  rudiments  of  the 
beneficent  art  of  letters.  Did  he  draw  in  rude  out 
line  on  his  skin  tent  figures  of  men  transfixed  with 
arrows  as  many  as  he  had  slain  enemies,  his  education 
was  rapidly  advancing.  He  had  mastered  the  ele 
ments  of  picture  writing,  beyond  which  hardly  the 
wisest  of  his  race  progressed.  Figures  of  the  natural 
objects  connected  by  symbols  having  fixed  meanings 
make  up  the  whole  of  this  art.  The  relative  fre 
quency  of  the  latter  marks  its  advancement  from  a 
merely  figurative  to  an  ideographic  notation.  On 
what  principle  of  mental  association  a  given  sign  was 
adopted  to  express  a  certain  idea,  why,  for  instance, 

1  Grimm,  GescMchte  der  DeutscJien  SpracJie,  p.  571. 


10     GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS  ON  THE  RED  RACE. 

on  the  Chipeway  scrolls  a  circle  means  spirits,  and  a 
horned  snake  life,  it  is  often  hard  to  guess.  The 
difficulty  grows  when  we  find  that  to  the  initiated  the 
same  sign  calls  up  quite  different  ideas,  as  the  subject 
of  the  writer  varies  from  war  to  love,  or  from  the 
chase  to  religion.  The  connection  is  generally  be 
yond  the  power  of  divination,  and  the  key  to  ideo 
graphic  writing  once  lost  can  never  be  recovered. 

The  number  of  such  arbitrary  characters  in  the 
Chipeway  notation  is  said  to  be  over  two  hundred, 
but  if  the  distinction  between  a  figure  and  a  symbol 
were  rigidly  applied,  it  would  be  much  reduced.  This 
kind  of  writing,  if  it  deserves  the  name,  was  common 
throughout  the  continent,  and  many  specimens  of  it, 
scratched  on  the  plane  surfaces  of  stones,  have  been 
preserved  to  the  present  day.  Such  is  the  once  cele 
brated  inscription  on  Dighton  Eock,  Massachusetts, 
long  supposed  to  be  a  record  of  the  Northmen  of 
Vinland  ;  such  those  that  mark  the  faces  of  the  cliffs 
which  overhang  the  waters  of  the  Orinoco,  and  those 
that  in  Oregon,  Peru,  and  La  Plata  have  been  the 
subject  of  much  curious  speculation.  They  are  alike 
the  mute  and  meaningless  epitaphs  of  vanished  gene 
rations. 

I  would  it  could  be  said  that  in  favorable  contrast 
to  our  ignorance  of  these  inscriptions  is  our  compre 
hension  of  the  highly  wrought  pictography  of  the 
Aztecs.  No  nation  ever  reduced  it  more  to  a  system. 
It  was  in  constant  use  in  the  daily  transactions  of  life. 
They  manufactured  for  writing  purposes  a  thick, 
coarse  paper  from  the  leaves  of  the  agave  plant  by  a 
process  of  maceration  and  pressure.  An  Aztec  book 
closely  resembles  one  of  our  quarto  volumes.  It  is 


PHONETIC  CHARACTERS.  11 

made  of  a  single  sheet,  twelve  to  fifteen  inches  wide, 
and  often  sixty  or  seventy  feet  long,  and  is  not  rolled, 
but  folded  either  in  squares  or  zigzags  in  such  a  man 
ner  that  on  opening  it  there  are  two  pages  exposed  to 
view.  Thin  wooden  boards  are  fastened  to  each  of 
the  outer  leaves,  so  that  the  whole  presents  as  neat  an 
appearance,  remarks  Peter  Martyr,  as  if  it  had  come 
from  the  shop  of  a  skilful  bookbinder.  They  also 
covered  buildings,  tapestries,  and  scrolls  of  parchment 
with  these  devices,  and  for  trifling  transactions  were 
familiar  with  the  use  of  slates  of  soft  stone  from  which 
the  figures  could  readily  be  erased  with  water.1 
What  is  still  more  astonishing,  there  is  reason  to 
believe,  in  some  instances,  their  figures  were  not 
painted,  but  actually  printed  with  movable  blocks  of 
wood  on  which  the  symbols  were  carved  in  relief, 
though  this  was  probably  confined  to  those  intended 
for  ornament  only. 

In  these  records  we  discern  something  higher  than 
a  mere  symbolic  notation.  They  contain  the  germ  of 
a  phonetic  alphabet,  and  represent  sounds  of  spoken 
language.  The  symbol  is  often  not  connected  with 
the  idea  but  with  the  word.  The  mode  in  which 
this  is  done  corresponds  precisely  to  that  of  the  rebus. 
It  is  a  simple  method,  readily  suggesting  itself.  In 
the  middle  ages  it  was  much  in  vogue  in  Europe  for 
the  same  purpose  for  which  it  was  chiefly  employed 
in  Mexico  at  the  same  time — the  writing  of  proper 
names.  For  example,  the  English  family  Bolton  was 
known  in  heraldry  by  a  tun  transfixed  by  a  bolt. 
Precisely  so  the  Mexican  emperor  Ixcoatl  is  mentioned 

•  l  Peter  Martyr,  De  Insults  nuper  Eepertis,  p.  354 :  Colon.  1574. 


12     GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS  ON  THE  RED  RACE. 

in  the  Aztec  manuscripts  under  the  figure  of  a  serpent 
coatl,  pierced  by  obsidian  knives  ixtli^  and  Moquauh- 
zoma  by  a  mouse-trap  montli,  an  eagle  quauhtli,  a 
lancet  20,  and  a  hand  maitl.  As  a  syllable  could  be 
expressed  by  any  object  whose  name  commenced  with 
it,  as  few  words  can  be  given  the  form  of  a  rebus 
without  some  change,  as  the  figures  sometimes  repre 
sent  their  full  phonetic  value,  sometimes  only  that  of 
their  initial  sound,  and  as  universally  the  attention 
of  the  artist  was  directed  less  to  the  sound  than  to 
the  idea,  the  didactic  painting  of  the  Mexicans,  what 
ever  it  might  have  been  to  them,  is  a  sealed  book  to 
us,  and  must  remain  so  in  great  part.  Moreover,  it  is 
entirely  undetermined  whether  it  should  be  read  from 
the  first  to  the  last  page,  or  vice  versa,  whether  from 
right  to  left  or  from  left  to  right,  from  bottom  to  top 
or  from  top  to  bottom,  around  the  edges  of  the  page 
toward  the  centre,  or  each  line  in  the  opposite  direc 
tion  from  the  preceding  one.  There  are  good  autho 
rities  for  all  these  methods,1  and  they  may  all  be  cor 
rect,  for  there  is  no  evidence  that  any  fixed  rule  had 
been  laid  down  in  this  respect. 

Immense  masses  of  such  documents  were  stored  in 
the  imperial  archives  of  ancient  Mexico.  Torquemada 
asserts  that  five  cities  alone  yielded  to  the  Spanish 
governor  on  one  requisition  no  less  than  sixteen 
thousand  volumes  or  scrolls!  Every  leaf  was  de 
stroyed.  Indeed,  so  thorough 'and  wholesale  was  the 
destruction  of  these  memorials  now  so  precious  in 
our  eyes  that  hardly  enough  remain  to  whet  the  wits 
of  antiquaries.  In  the  libraries  of  Paris,  Dresden, 

1  They  may  be  found  in  Waitz,  Anthrop.  der  Naturvoelker, 
iv.  p.  173. 


THE  MAYA  ALPHABET.  13 

Pesth,  and  the  Vatican  are,  however,  a  sufficient  num 
ber  to  make  us  despair  of  deciphering  them  had  we 
for  comparison  all  which  the  Spaniards  destroyed. 

Beyond  all  others  the  Mayas,  resident  on  the  penin 
sula  of  Yucatan,  would  seem  to  have  approached 
nearest  a  true  phonetic  system.  They  had  a  regular 
and  well  understood  alphabet  of  twenty  seven  elemen 
tary  sounds,  the  letters  of  which  are  totally  different 
from  those  of  any  other  nation,  and  evidently  origi 
nal  with  themselves.  But  besides  these  they  used  a 
large  number  of  purely  conventional  symbols,  and 
moreover  were  accustomed  constantly  to  emploj^  the 
ancient  pictographic  method  in  addition  as  a  sort  of 
commentary  on  the  sound  represented.  What  is 
more  curious,  if  the  obscure  explanation  of  an  ancient 
writer  can  be  depended  upon,  they  not  only  aimed  to 
employ  an  alphabet  after  the  manner  of  ours,  but  to 
express  the  sound  absolutely  like  our  phonographic 
signs  do.1  With  the  aid  of  this  alphabet,  which  has " 
fortunately  been  preserved,  we  are  enabled  to  spell 
out  a  few  words  on  the  Yucatecan  manuscripts  and 
fagades,  but  thus  far  with  no  positive  results.  The 
loss  of  the  ancient  pronunciation  is  especially  in  the 
way  of  such  studies. 

In  South  America,  also,  there  is  said  to  have  been 
a  nation  who  cultivated  the  art  of  picture  writing, 
the  Panos,  on  the  river  Ucayale.  A  missionary, 
Narcisso  Grilbar  by  name,  once  penetrated,  with  great 
toil,  to  one  of  their  villages.  As  he  approached  he 

1  The  only  authority  is  Diego  de  Landa,  Relacion  de  las  Cosas  de 
Yucatan,  ed.  Brasseur,  Paris,  1864,  p.  318.  The  explanation  is 
extremely  obscure  in  the  original.  I  have  given  it  in  the  only 
sense  in  which  the  author's  words  seern  to  have  any  meaning. 


Id     GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS  ON  THE  RED  RACE. 

beheld  a  venerable  man  seated  under  the  shade  of  a 
palm  tree,  with  a  great  book  open  before  him  from 
which  he  was  reading  to  an  attentive  circle  of  audi 
tors  the  wars  and  wanderings  of  their  forefathers. 
With  difficulty  the  priest  got  a  sight  of  the  precious 
volume,  and  found  it  covered  with  figures  and  signs 
in  marvellous  symmetry  and  order.1  No  wonder 
such  a  romantic  scene  left  a  deep  impression  on  his 
memory. 

The  Peruvians  adopted  a  totally  different  and 
unique  system  of  records,  that  by  means  of  the  quipu. 
This  was  a  base  cord,  the  thickness  of  the  finger,  of 
any  required  length,  to  which  were  attached  numerous 
small  strings  of  different  colors,  lengths,  and  textures, 
variously  knotted  and  twisted  one  with  another. 
Each  of  these  peculiarities  represented  a  certain 
number,  a  quality,  quantity,  or  other  idea,  but  what, 
not  the  most  fluent  quipu  reader  could  tell  unless  he 
was  acquainted  with  the  general  topic  treated  of. 
Therefore,  whenever  news  was  sent  in  this  manner  a 
person  accompanied  the  bearer  to  serve  as  verbal 
commentator,  and  to  prevent  confusion  the  quipus 
relating  to  the  various  departments  of  knowledge 
were  placed  in  separate  storehouses,  one  for  war,  an 
other  for  taxes,  a  third  for  history,  and  so  forth.  On 
what  principle  of  mnemotechnics  the  ideas  were  con 
nected  with  the  knots  and  colors  we  are  totally  in  the 
dark;  it  has  even  been  doubted  whether  they  had 
any  application  beyond  the  art  of  numeration.8  Each 
combination  had,  however,  a  fixed  ideographic  value 

1  Humboldt,  Vues  des  Cordilleres,  p.  72. 

2  Desjardins,  Le  Perou  avant  la  Conquete  Espagnole,  p.  122 : 
Paris,  1858. 


THE  Q  UIP U  AND   WA MP UM.  1 5 

in  a  certain  branch  of  knowledge,  and  thus  the  quipu 
differed  essentially  from  the  Catholic  rosary,  the  Jew 
ish  phylactery,  or  the  knotted  strings  of  the  natives  of 
North  America  and  Siberia,  to  all  of  which  it  has  at 
times  been  compared. 

The  wampum  used  by  the  tribes  of  the  north  At 
lantic  coast  was,  in  many  respects,  analogous  to  the 
quipu.  In  early  times  it  was  composed  chiefly  of  bits 
of  wood  of  equal  size,  but  different  colors.  These 
were  hung  on  strings  which  were  woven  into  belts 
and  bands,  the  hues,  shapes,  sizes,  and  combinations 
of  the  strings  hinting  their  general  significance. 
Thus  the  lighter  shades  were  invariable  harbingers 
of  peaceful  or  pleasant  tidings,  while  the  darker  por 
tended  war  and  danger.  The  substitution  of  beads 
or  shells  in  place  of  wood,  and  the  custom  of  em 
broidering  figures  in  the  belts  were,  probably,  intro 
duced  by  European  influence. 

Besides  these,  various  simpler  mnemonic  aids  were 
employed,  such  as  parcels  of  reeds  of  different 
lengths,  notched  sticks,  knots  in  cords,  strings  of 
pebbles  or  fruit-stones,  circular  pieces  of  wood  or 
slabs  pierced  with  different  figures  which  the  Eng 
lish  liken  to  "  cony  holes,"  and  at  a  victory,  a  treaty, 
or  the  founding  of  a  village,  sometimes  a  pillar  or 
heap  of  stones  was  erected  equalling  in  number  the 
persons  present  at  the  occasion,  or  the  number  of  the 
fallen. 

This  exhausts  the  list.  All  other  methods  of  writ 
ing,  the  hieroglyphs  of  the  Micmacs  of  Acadia,  the 
syllabic  alphabet  of  the  Cherokees,  the  pretended 
traces  of  Greek,  Hebrew,  and  Celtiberic  letters  which 
have  from  time  to  time  been  brought  to  the  notice  of 


16      GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS  ON  THE  RED  RACE. 

the  public,  have  been  without  exception  the  products 
of  foreign  civilization  or  simply  frauds.  Not  a  single 
coin,  inscription,  or  memorial  of  any  kind  whatever, 
has  been  found  on  the  American  continent  showing 
the  existence,  either  generally  or  locally,  of  any  other 
means  of  writing  than  those  specified. 

Poor  as  these  substitutes  for  a  developed  phonetic 
system  seem  to  us,  they  were  of  great  value  to  the 
uncultivated  man.  In  his  legends  their  introduction 
is  usually  ascribed  to  some  heaven-sent  benefactor, 
the  antique  characters  were  jealously  adhered  to,  and 
the  pictured  scroll  of  bark,  the  quipu  ball,  the  belt 
of  wampum,  were  treasured  with  provident  care,  and 
their  import  minutely  expounded  to  the  most  intelli 
gent  of  the  rising  generation.  In  all  communities 
beyond  the  stage  of  barbarism  a  class  of  persons  was 
set  apart  for  this  duty  and  no  other.  Thus,  for  ex 
ample,  in  ancient  Peru,  one  college  of  priests  styled 
amauta,  learned,  had  exclusive  charge  over  the  quipus 
containing  the  mythological  and  historical  traditions; 
a  second,  the  haravecs,  singers,  devoted  themselves  to 
those  referring  to  the  national  ballads  and  dramas ; 
while  a  third  occupied  their  time  solely  with  those 
pertaining  to  civil  affairs.  Such  custodians  preserved 
and  prepared  the  archives,  learned  by  heart  with  their 
aid  what  their  fathers  knew,  and  in  some  countries, 
as,  for  instance,  among  the  Panos  mentioned  above, 
and  the  Quiches  of  Guatemala,1  repeated  portions  of 
them  at  times  to  the  assembled  populace.  It  has 
even  been  averred  by  one  of  their  converted  chiefs, 
long  a  missionary  to  his  fellows,  that  the  Chipeways 

1  An  instance  is  given  by  Ximenes,  Origen  de  los  Indios  de 
Guatemala,  p.  186 :  Vienna,  1856. 


VA  L  UE  OF  THE  NA  TIVE  EEC  OR  DS.  1 7 

of  Lake  Superior  have  a  college  composed  of  ten 
"of  the  wisest  and  most  venerable  of  their  nation," 
who  have  in  charge  the  pictured  records  containing 
the  ancient  history  of  their  tribe.  These  are  kept 
in  an  underground  chamber,  and  are  disinterred  every 
fifteen  years  by  the  assembled  guardians,  that  they 
may  be  repaired,  and  their  contents  explained  to  new 
members  of  the  society.1 

In  spite  of  these  precautions,  the  end  seems  to  have 
been  very  imperfectly  attained.  The  most  distin 
guished  characters,  the  weightiest  events  in  national 
history  faded  into  oblivion  after  a  few  generations. 
The  time  and  circumstances  of  the  formation  of  the 
league  of  the  Five  Nations,  the  dispersion  of  the 
mound  builders  of  the  Ohio  valley  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  the  chronicles  of  Peru  or  Mexico  beyond  a 
century  or  two  anterior  to  the  conquest,  are  preserved 
in  such  a  vague  and  contradictory  manner  that  they 
have  slight  value  as  history.  Their  mythology  fared 
somewhat  better,  for  not  on^y  was  it  kept  fresh  in 
the  memory  by  frequent  repetition ;  but  being  itself 
founded  in  nature,  it  was  constantly  nourished  by  the 
truths  which  gave  it  birth.  Nevertheless,  we  may 
profit  by  the  warning  to  remember  that  their  myths 
are  myths  only,  and  not  the  reflections  of  history  or 
heroes. 

Eising  from  these  details  to  a  general  comparison 
of  the  symbolic  and  phonetic  systems  in  their  reac 
tions  on  the  mind,  the  most  obvious  are  their  con 
trasted  effects  on  the  faculty  of  memory.  Letters 


1  George  Copway,  Traditional  History  of  the 
p.  130  :   London,  1850. 

2 


18     GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS  ON  THE  RED  RACE. 

represent  elementary  sounds,  which  are  few  in  any 
language,  while  symbols  stand  for  ideas,  and  they  are 
numerically  infinite.  The  transmission  of  knowledge 
by  means  of  the  latter  is  consequently  attended  with 
most  disproportionate  labor.  It  is  almost  as  if  we 
could  quote  nothing  from  an  author  unless  we  could 
recollect  his  exact  words.  We  have  a  right  to  look 
for  excellent  memories  where  such  a  mode  is  in  vogue, 
and  in  the  present  instance  we  are  not  disappointed. 
"These  savages,"  exclaims  La  Hontan,  "have  the 
happiest  memories  in  the  world!"  It  Avas  etiquette 
at  their  councils  for  each  speaker  to  repeat  verbatim 
all  his  predecessors  had  said,  and  the  whites  were 
often  astonished  and  confused  at  the  verbal  fidelity 
with  which  the  natives  recalled  the  transactions  of 
long  past  treaties.  Their  songs  were  inexhaustible. 
An  instance  is  on  record  where  an  Indian  sang  two 
hundred  on  various  subjects.1  Such  a  fact  reminds 
us  of  a  beautiful  expression  of  the  elder  Humboldt : 
"  Man,"  he  says,  "  regarded  as  an  animal,  belongs  to 
one  of  the  singing  species ;  but  his  notes  are  always 
associated  with  ideas."  The  youth  who  were  edu 
cated  at  the  public  schools  of  ancient  Mexico  —  for 
that  realm,  so  far  from  neglecting  the  cause  of  popu 
lar  education,  established  houses  for  gratuitous  in 
struction,  and  to  a  certain  extent  made  the  attend 
ance  upon  them  obligatory — learned  by  rote  long 
orations,  poems,  and  prayers  with  a  facility  astonish 
ing  to  the  conquerors,  and  surpassing  anything  they 
were  accustomed  to  see  in  the  universities  of  Old 
Spain.  A  phonetic  system  actually  weakens  the  re- 

1  Morse,  Report  on  the  Indian  Tribes,  App.  p.  352. 


EFFECT  OF  SYMBOLIC  WRITING  ON  THE  MIND.     19 

tentive  powers  of  the  mind  by  offering  a  more  facile 
plan  for  preserving  thought.  "  Ce  que  je  mets  sur 
papier,  je  remets  de  ma  memoir  e"  is  an  expression  of  old 
Montaigne  which  he  could  never  have  used  had  he 
employed  ideographic  characters. 

Memory,  however,  is  of  far  less  importance  than  a 
free  activity  of  thought,  untrammelled  by  forms  or 
precedents,  and  ever  alert  to  novel  combinations  of 
ideas.  Give  a  race  this  and  it  will  guide  it  to  civil 
ization  as  surely  as  the  needle  directs  the  ship  to  its 
haven.  It  is  here  that  ideographic  writing  reveals  its 
fatal  inferiority.  It  is  forever  specifying,  materializ 
ing,  dealing  in  minutiae.  In  the  Egyptian  symbolic 
alphabet  there  is  a  figure  for  a  virgin,  another  for  a 
married  woman,  for  a  widow  without  offspring,  for  a 
widow  with  one  child,  two  children,  and  I  know  not 
in  how  many  other  circumstances,  but  for  woman  there 
is  no  sign.  It  must  be  so  in  the  nature  of  things,  for 
the  symbol  represents  the  object  as  it  appears  or  is 
fancied  to  appear,  and  not  as  it  is  thought.  Further 
more,  the  constant  learning  by  heart  infallibly  leads 
to  slavish  repetition  and  mental  servility. 

A  symbol  when  understood  is  independent  of  lan 
guage,  and  is  as  universally  current  as  an  Arabic 
numeral.  But  this  divorce  of  spoken  and  written 
language  is  of  questionable  advantage.  It  at  once 
destroys  all  permanent  improvement  in  a  tongue 
through  elegance  of  style,  sonorous  periods,  or  deli 
cacy  of  expression,  and  the  life  of  the  language  itself 
is  weakened  when  its  forms  are  left  to  fluctuate  un 
controlled.  Written  poetry,  grammar,  rhetoric,  all 
are  impossible  to  the  student  who  draws  his  know 
ledge  from  such  a  source. 


20     GENERAL  CONSIDERATION'S  ON  THE  RED  RACE. 

Finally,  it  has  been  justly  observed  by  the  younger 
Humboldt  that  the  painful  fidelity  to  the  antique 
figures  transmitted  from  barbarous  to  polished  gene 
rations  is  injurious  to  the  esthetic  sense,  and  dulls 
the  mind  to  the  beautiful  in  art  and  nature. 

The  transmission  of  thought  by  figures  and  symbols 

would,  on  the  whole,  therefore,  foster  those  narrow  and 

material  tendencies  which  the  genius  of  polysynthetic 

\  languages  would  seem  calculated  to  produce.    Its  one 

redeeming  trait  of  strengthening   the  memory  will 

serve  to  explain   the   strange   tenacity   with  which 

certain  myths  have  been  preserved  through  widely 

\     dispersed  families,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see. 

Besides  this  of  language  there  are  two  traits  in  the 
history  of  the  red  man  without  parallel  in  that  of  any 
other  variety  of  our  species  which  has  achieved  any 
notable  progress  in  civilization. 

The  one  is  his  isolation.  Cut  off  time  out  of  mind 
from  the  rest  of  the  world,  he  never  underwent  those 
crossings  of  blood  and  culture  which  so  modified  and 
on  the  whole  promoted  the  growth  of  the  old  world 
nationalities.  In  his  own  way  he  worked  out  his 
own  destiny,  and  what  he  won  was  his  with  a  more 
than  ordinary  right  of  ownership.  For  all  those  old 
dreams  of  the  advent  of  the  Ten  Lost  Tribes,  of 
Buddhist  priests,  of  Welsh  princes,  or  of  Phenician 
merchants  on  American  soil,  and  there  exerting  a 
permanent  influence,  have  been  consigned  to  the  dust 
bin  by  every  unbiased  student,  and  when  we  see 
such  men  as  Mr.  Schoolcraft  and  the  Abbe  E.  C.  Bras- 
seur  essaying  to  resuscitate  them,  we  regretfully  look 
upon  it  in  the  light  of  a  literary  anachronism. 

The  second  trait  is  the  entire  absence  of  the  herds- 


A  HUNTING  RACE.  21 

rik 

man's  life  with  its  softening  associations.  Through 
out  the  continent  there  is  not  a  single  authentic  in 
stance  of  a  pastoral  tribe,  not  one  of  an  animal 
raised  for  its  milk,1  nor  for  the  transportation  of 
persons,  and  very  few  for  their  flesh.  It-  was  essen 
tially  a  hunting  race.  The  most  civilized  nations 
looked  to  the  chase  for  their  chief  supply  of  meat, 
and  the  courts  of  Cuzco  and  Mexico  enacted  stringent 
game  and  forest  laws,  and  at  certain  periods  the 
whole  population  turned  out  for  a  general  crusade 
against  the  denizens  of  the  forest.  In  the  most 
densely  settled  districts  the  conquerors  found  vast 
stretches  of  primitive  woods. 

If  we  consider  the  life  of  a  hunter,  pitting  his  skill 
and  strength  against  the  marvellous  instincts  and 
quick  perceptions  of  the  brute,  training  his  senses  to 
preternatural  acuteness,  but  blunting  his  more  ten 
der  feelings,  his  sole  aim  to  shed  blood  and  take  life, 
dependent  on  luck  for  his  food,  exposed  to  depriva- 

1  Gomara  states  that  De  Ayllon  found  tribes  on  the  Atlantic 
shore  not  far  from  Cape  Hatteras  keeping  flocks  of  deer  (ciervos) 
and  from  their  milk  making  cheese  (Hist,  de  las  Indias,  cap.  43). 
I  attach  no  importance  to  this  statement,  and  only  mention  it  to 
connect  it  with  some  other  curious  notices  of  the  tribe  now  ex 
tinct  who  occupied  that  locality.  Both  De  Ayllon  and  Lawson 
mention  their  very  light  complexions,  and  the  latter  saw  many 
with  blonde  hair,  blue  eyes,  and  a  fair  skin;  they  cultivated 
when  first  visited  the  potato  (or  the  groundnut),  tobacco,  and 
cotton  (Humboldt)  ;  they  reckoned  time  by  disks  of  wood  divided 
into  sixty  segments  (Lederer)  ;  and  just  in  this  latitude  the  most 
careful  determination  fixes  the  mysterious  White-man' s-land,  or 
Great  Ireland  of  the  Icelandic  Sagas  (see  the  American  Hist. 
Mag.,  ix.  p.  364),  where  the  Scandinavian  sea  rovers  in  the 
eleventh  century  found  men  of  their  own  color,  clothed  in  long 
woven  garments,  and  not  less  civilized  than  themselves. 


22     GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS  ON  THE  RED  RACE. 

0 

tions,  storms,  and  long  wanderings,  his  chief  diet 
flesh,  we  may  more  readily  comprehend  that  conspic 
uous  disregard  of  human  suffering,  those  sanguinary 
rites,  that  vindictive  spirit,  that  inappeasable  rest 
lessness,  which  we  so  often  find  in  the  chronicles  of 
ancient  America.  The  law  with  reason  objects  to 
accepting  a  butcher  as  a  juror  on  a  trial  for  life; 
here  is  a  whole  race  of  butchers. 

The  one  mollifying  element  was  agriculture.  On 
the  altar  of  Mixcoatl,  god  of  hunting,  the  Aztec 
priest  tore  the  heart  from  the  human  victim  and 
smeared  with  the  spouting  blood  the  snake  that 
coiled  its  lengths  around  the  idol ;  flowers  and  fruits, 
yellow  ears  of  maize  and  clusters  of  rich  bananas 
decked  the  shrine  of  Centeotl,  beneficent  patroness 
of  agriculture,  and  bloodless  offerings  alone  were  her 
appropriate  dues.  This  shows  how  clear,  even  to  the 
native  mind,  was  the  contrast  between  these  two 
modes  of  subsistence.  By  substituting  a  sedentary 
for  a  wandering  life,  by  supplying  a  fixed  dependence 
for  an  uncertain  contingency,  and  by  admonishing 
man  that  in  preservation,  not  in  destruction,  lies  his 
most  remunerative  sphere  of  activity,  we  can  hardly 
estimate  too  highly  the  wide  distribution  of  the  zea 
mays.  This  was  their  only  cereal,  and  it  was  found 
in  cultivation  from  the  southern  extremity  of  Chili 
to  the  fiftieth  parallel  of  north  latitude,  beyond  which 
limits  the  low  temperature  renders  it  an  uncertain 
crop.  In  their  legends  it  is  represented  as  the  gift 
of  the  Great  Spirit  (Chipeways),  brought  from  the 
terrestrial  Paradise  by  the  sacred  animals  (Quiches), 
and  symbolically  the  mother  of  the  race  (Nahuas), 
and  the  material  from  which  was  moulded  the  first  of 
men  (Quiches). 


TEE  ESKIMOS.  23 

As  the  races,  so  the  great  families  of  man  who 
speak  dialects  of  the  same  tongue  are,  in  a  sense,  in 
dividuals,  bearing  each  its  own  physiognomy.  When 
the  whites  first  heard  the  uncouth  gutturals  of  the 
Indians,  they  frequently  proclaimed  that  hundreds  of 
radically  diverse  languages,  invented,  it  was  piously 
suggested,  by  the  Devil  for  the  annoyance  of  mission 
aries,  prevailed  over  the  continent.  Earnest  students 
of  such  matters — Yater,  Duponceau,  Gallatin,  and 
Buschmann — have,  however,  demonstrated  that  nine- 
tenths  of  the  area  of  America,  at  its  discovery,  were 
occupied  by  tribes  using  dialects  traceable  to  ten  or 
a  dozen  primitive  stems.  The  names  of  these,  their 
geographical  position  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and, 
so  far  as  it  is  safe  to  do  so,  their  individual  character, 
I  shall  briefly  mention. 

Fringing  the  shores  of  the  Northern  Ocean  from 
Mount  St.  Elias  on  the  west  to  the  Gulf  of  St.  Law 
rence  on  the  east,  rarely  seen  a  hundred  miles  from 
the  coast,  were  the  Eskimos.1  They  are  the  connect 
ing  link  between  the  races  of  the  Old  and  New 
Worlds,  in  physical  appearance  and  mental  traits 

1  The  name  Eskimo  is  from  the  Algonkin  word  Eskimantick, 
eaters  of  raw  flesh.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  at  one  time 
they  possessed  the  Atlantic  coast  considerably  to  the  south.  The 
Northmen,  in  the  year  1000,  found  the  natives  of  Vinland,  prob 
ably  near  Rhode  Island,  of  the  same  race  as  they  were  familiar 
with  in  Labrador.  They  call  them  Skralingar,  chips,  and  de 
scribe  them  as  numerous  and  short  of  stature  (Eric  Rothens 
Saga,  in  Mueller,  Sagaribibliothek,  p.  214).  It  is  curious  that 
the  traditions  of  the  Tuscaroras,  who  placed  their  arrival  on  the 
Virginian  coast  about  1300,  spoke  of  the  race  they  found  there  as 
eaters  of  raw  flesh  and  ignorant  of  maize  (Lederer,  Account  of 
North  America,  in  Harris,  Voyages). 


24     GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS  .ON  THE  RED  RACE. 

more  allied  to  the  former,  but  in  language  betraying 
their  near  kinship  to  the  latter.  An  amphibious  race, 
born  fishermen,  in  their  buoyant  skin  kayaks  they 
brave  fearlessly  the  tempests,  make  long  voyages, 
and  merit  the  sobriquet  bestowed  upon  them  by 
Von  Baer,  "  the  Phenieians  of  the  north."  Contrary 
to  what  one  might  suppose,  they  are,  amid  their 
snows,  a  contented,  light-hearted  people,  knowing  no 
longing  for  a  sunnier  clime,  given  to  song,  music,  and 
merry  tales.  They  are  cunning  handicraftsmen  to  a 
degree,  but  withal  wholly  ingulfed  in  a  sensuous 
existence.  The  desperate  struggle  for  life  engrosses 
them,  and  their  mythology  is  barren. 

South  of  them,  extending  in  a  broad  band  across 
the  continent  from  Hudson's  Bay  to  the  Pacific,  and 
almost  to  the  Great  Lakes  below,  is  the  Athapascan 
stock.  Its  affiliated  tribes  rove  far  north  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Mackenzie  Eiver,  and  wandering  still 
more  widely  in  an  opposite  direction  along  both  de 
clivities  of  the  Kooky  Mountains,  people  portions  of 
the  coast  of  Oregon  south  of  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia,  and  spreading  over  the  plains  of  New 
Mexico  under  the  names  of  Apaches,  Navajos,  and 
Lipans,  almost  reach  the  tropics  at  the  delta  of  the 
Kio  Grande  del  Norte,  and  on  the  shores  of  the  Gulf 
of  California.  No  wonder  they  deserted  their  father 
land  and  forgot  it  altogether,  for  it  is  a  very  terra 
damnata,  whose  wretched  inhabitants  are  cut  off  alike 
from  the  harvest  of  the  sea  and  the  harvest  of  the 
soil.  The  profitable  culture  of  maize  does  not  ex 
tend  beyond  the  fiftieth  parallel  of  latitude,  and  less 
than  seven  degrees  farther  north  the  mean  annual 
temperature  everywhere  east  of  the  mountains  sinks 


THE  ALGONKINS  AND  IROQUOIS.  25 

"below  the  freezing  point.1  Agriculture  is  impossible, 
and  the  only  chance  for  life  lies  in  the  uncertain  for 
tunes  of  the  chase  and  the  penurious  gifts  of  an  arctic 
flora.  The  denizens  of  these  wilds  are  abject,  slo 
venly,  hopelessly  savage,  "  at  the  bottom  of  the  scale 
of  humanity  in  North  America,"  says  Dr.  Richardson, 
and  their  relatives  who  have  wandered  to  the  more 
genial  climes  of  the  south  are  as  savage  as  they,  as 
perversely  hostile  to  a  sedentary  life,  as  gross  and 
narrow  in  their  moral  notions.  This  wide-spread 
stock,  scattered  over  forty-five  degrees  of  latitude, 
covering  thousands  of  square  leagues,  reaching  from 
the  Arctic  Ocean  to  the  confines  of  the  empire  of  the 
Montezumas,  presents  in  all  its  subdivisions  the  same 
mental  physiognomy  and  linguistic  peculiarities.2 

Best  known  to  us  of  all  the  Indians  are  the  Al- 
gonkins  and  Iroquois,  who,  at  the  time  of  the  dis 
covery,  were  the  sole  possessors  of  the  region  now 
embraced  by  Canada  and  the  eastern  United  States 
north  of  the  thirty-fifth  parallel.  The  latter,  under 
the  names  of  fne  Five  Nations,  Hurons,  Tusca- 
roras,  Susquehannocks,  Nottoways  and  others,  oc 
cupied  much  of  the  soil  from  the  St.  Lawrence  and 
Lake  Ontario  to  the  Eoanoke,  and  perhaps  the 
Cherokees,  whose  homes  were  in  the  secluded  vales 
of  East  Tennessee,  were  one  of  their  early  offshoots.3 

1  Richardson,  Arctic  Expedition,  p.  374. 

2  The  late  Professor  W.  W.  Turner  of  Washington,  and  Pro 
fessor  Buschmann  of  Berlin,  are  the  two   scholars  who  have 
traced  the  boundaries  of  this  widely  dispersed  family.    The  name 
is  drawn  from  Lake  Athapasca  in  British  America. 

3  The  Cherokee  tongue  has  a  limited  number  of  words  in  com 
mon  with  the  Iroquois,  and  its  structural  similarity  is  close.     The 
name  is  of  unknown  origin.     It  should  doubtless  be  spelled  Tsa- 


26     GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS  ON  THE  RED  RACE. 

They  were  a  race  of  warriors,  courageous,  cruel,  un 
imaginative,  but  of  rare  political  sagacity.  They  are 
more  like  ancient  Eomans  than  Indians,  and  are  lead 
ing  figures  in  the  colonial  wars. 

The  Algonkins  surrounded  them  on  every  side, 
occupying  the  rest  of  the  region  mentioned  and  run 
ning  westward  to  the  base  of  the  Eocky  Mountains, 
where  one  of  their  famous  bands,  the  Blackfeet,  still 
hunts  over  the  valley  of  the  Saskatchewan.  They 
were  more  genial  than  the  Iroquois,  of  milder  man 
ners  and  more  vivid  fancy,  and  were  regarded  by 
these  with  a  curious  mixture  of  respect  and  contempt. 
Some  writer  has  connected  this  difference  with  their 
preference  for  the  open  prairie  country  in  contrast  to 
the  endless  and  sombre  forests  where  were  the  homes 
of  the  Iroquois.  Their  history  abounds  in  great  men, 
whose  ambitious  plans  were  foiled  by  the  levity  of 
their  allies  and  their  want  of  persistence.  They  it 
was  who  under  King  Philip  fought  the  Puritan 
fathers ;  who  at  the  instigation  of  Pontiac  doomed  to 
death  every  white  trespasser  on  their  soil ;  who  led 
by  Tecumseh  and  Black  Hawk  gathered  the  clans  of 
the  forest  and  mountain  for  the  last  pitched  battle  of 
the  races  in  the  Mississippi  valley.  To  them  be 
longed  the  mild  mannered  Lenni  Lenape,  who  little 
foreboded  the  hand  of  iron  that  grasped  their  own  so 
softly  under  the  elm  tree  of  Shackamaxon,  to  them 
the  restless  Shawnee,  the  gypsy  of  the  wilderness, 

lakie,  a  plural  form,  almost  the  same  as  that  of  the  river  Tellico, 
properly  Tsaliko  (Ramsey,  Annals  of  Tennessee,  p.  87),  on  the 
banks  of  which  their  principal  towns  were  situated.  Adair's 
derivation  from  cheera,  fire,  is  worthless,  as  no  such  word  exists 
in  their  language. 


THE  APALACHIAN  TRIBES.  27 

the  Chipeways  of  Lake  Superior,  and  also  to  tliem 
the  Indian  girl  Pocahontas,  who  in  the  legend  averted 
from  the  head  of  the  white  man  the  blow  which,  re 
bounding,  swept  away  her  father  and  all  his  tribe.1 

Between  their  southernmost  outposts  and  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico  were  a  number  of  clans,  mostly  speaking 
the  Muscogee  tongue,  Creeks,  Choctaws,  Chikasaws, 
and  others,  in  later  times  summed  up  as  Apalachian 
Indians,  but  by  early  writers  sometimes  referred  to 
as  "The  Empire  of  the  Natchez."  For  tradition 
says  that  long  ago  this  small  tribe,  whose  home  was 
in  the  Big  Black  country,  was  at  the  head  of  a  loose 
confederation  embracing  most  of  the  nations  from  the 
Atlantic  coast  quite  into  Texas ;  and  adds  that  the 
expedition  of  De  Soto  severed  its  lax  bonds  and 
shook  it  irremediably  into  fragments.  "Whether  this 
is  worth  our  credence  or  not,  the  comparative  civili 
zation  of  the  Natchez,  and  the  analogy  their  language 
bears  to  that  of  the  Mayas  of  Yucatan,  the  builders  of 
those  ruined  cities  which  Stephens  and  Catherwood 
have  made  so  familiar  to  the  world,  attach  to  them  a 
peculiar  interest.2 


1  The  term  Algonkin  may  be  a  corruption  of  at 

people  of  the  other  shore.  Algic,  often  used  synonymously,  is 
an  adjective  manufactured  by  Mr.  School  craft  "from  the  words 
Alleghany  and  Atlantic"  (Algic  Researches,  ii.  p.  12).  There  is 
no  occasion  to  accept  it,  as  there  is  no  objection  to  employing 
Algonkin  both  as  substantive  and  adj  ective.  Iroquois  is  a  French 
compound  of  the  native  words  Mro,  I  have  said,  and  koue,  an  in 
terjection  of  assent  or  applause,  terms  constantly  heard  in  their 
councils. 

2  Apalachian,  which  should  be  spelt  with  one  p,  is  formed  of 
two  Creek  words,  apala,  the  great  sea,  the  ocean,  and  the  suffix 
cU,  people,  and  means  those  dwelling  by  the  ocean.     That  the 
Natchez  were  offshoots  of  the  Mayas  I  was  the  first  to  surmise 


28     GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS  ON  THE  RED  RACE. 

North  of  the  Arkansas  Eiver  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  Mississippi,  quite  to  its  source,  stretching  over  to 
Lake  Michigan  at  Grreen  Bay,  and  up  the  valley  of 
the  Missouri  west  to  the  mountains,  resided  the  Da- 
kotas,  an  erratic  folk,  averse  to  agriculture,  but  dar 
ing  hunters  and  bold  warriors,  tall  and  strong  of 
body.1  Their  religious  notions  have  been  carefully 
studied,  and  as  they  are  remarkably  primitive  and 
transparent,  they  will  often  be  referred  to.  The 
Sioux  and  the  Winnebagoes  are  well-known  branches 
of  this  family. 

We  have  seen  that  Dr.  Eichardson  assigned  to  a 
portion  of  the  Athapascas  the  lowest  place  among 
North  American  tribes,  but  there  are  some  in  New 
Mexico  who  might  contest  the  sad  distinction,  the 
Eoot  Diggers,  Comanches  and  others,  members  of 
the  Snake  or  Shoshonee  family,  scattered  extensively 
northwest  of  Mexico.  It  has  been  said  of  a  part  of 
these  that  they  are  "  nearer  the  "brutes  than  probably 
any  other  portion  of  the  human  race  on  the  face  of 
the  globe."2  Their  habits  in  some  respects  are  more 
brutish  than  those  of  any  brute,  for  there  is  no  limit 

and  to  prove  by  a  careful  comparison  of  one  hundred  Natchez 
words  with  their  equivalents  in  the  Maya  dialects.  Of  these,  five 
have  affinities  more  or  less  marked  to  words  peculiar  to  the  Huas- 
tecas  of  the  river  Panuco  (a  Maya  colony),  thirteen  to  words 
common  to  Huasteca  and  Maya,  and  thirty-nine  to  words  of 
similar  meaning  in  the  latter  language.  This  resemblance  may 
be  exemplified  by  the  numerals,  one,  two,  four,  seven,  eight, 
twenty.  In  Natchez  they  are  7m,  ah,  gan,  uk-woh,  upku-tepish, 
oka-poo  :  in  Maya,  hu,  ca,  can,  uk,  uapxce,  hunkal.  (See  the  Am. 
Hist.  Mag.,  New  Series,  vol.  i.  p.  16,  Jan.  1867.) 

1  Dakota,  a  native  word,  means  friends  or  allies. 

2  Rep.  of  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  1854,  p.  209. 


THE  AZTEC  FAMILY.  29 

to  man's  moral  descent  or  ascent,  and  the  observer 
might  well  be  excused  for  doubting  whether  such  a 
stock  ever  had  a  history  in  the  past,  or  the  possibility 
of  one  in  the  future.  Yet  these  debased  creatures 
speak  a  related  dialect,  and  are  beyond  a  doubt 
largely  of  the  same  blood  as  the  famous  Aztec  race, 
who  founded  the  empire  of  Anahuac,  and  raised  archi 
tectural  monuments  rivalling  the  most  famous  struc 
tures  of  the  ancient  world.  This  great  family,  whose 
language  has  been  traced  from  Nicaragua  to  Van 
couver's  Island,  and  whose  bold  intellects  colored  all 
the  civilization  of  the  northern  continent,  was  com 
posed  in  that  division  of  it  found  in  New  Spain 
chiefly  of  two  bands,  the  Toltecs,  whose  traditions 
point  to  the  mountain  ranges  of  Guatemala  as  their 
ancient  seat,  and  the  Nahuas,  who  claim  to  have  corne 
at  a  later  period  from  the  northwest  coast,  and  to 
gether  settled  in  and  near  the  valley  of  Mexico.1 

1  According  to  Professor  Buschmann  Aztec  is  probably  from 
iztac,  white,  and  Nahuatlacatl  signifies  those  who  speak  the  lan 
guage  Naliuatl,  clear  sounding,  sonorous.  The  Abbe  Brasseur 
(de  Bourbourg),  on  the  other  hand,  derives  the  latter  from 
the  Quiche  nawal,  intelligent,  and  adds  the  amazing  information 
that  this  is  identical  with  the  English  know  all! !  (Hist,  du  Mex- 
ique,  etc.,  i.  p.  102).  For  in  his  theory  several  languages  of 
Central  America  are  derived  from  the  same  old  Indo-Germanic 
stock  as  the  English,  German,  and  cognate  tongues.  Toltec, 
from  Toltecatl,  means  inhabitant  of  Tollan,  which  latter  may 
be  from  tolin,  rush,  and  signify  the  place  of  rushes.  The  signifi 
cation  artificer,  often  assigned  to  Toltecatl,  is  of  later  date,  and 
was  derived  from  the  famed  artistic  skill  of  this  early  folk  (Busch 
mann,  Aztek.  Ortsnamen,  p.  682:  Berlin,  1852).  The  Toltecs 
are  usually  spoken  of  as  anterior  to  the  Nahuas,  but  the  Tlas- 
caltecs  and  natives  of  Cholollan  or  Cholula  were  in  fact  Toltecs, 
unless  we  assign  to  this  latter  name  a  merely  mythical  significa 
tion.  The  early  migrations  of  the  two  Aztec  bands  and  their 


30     GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS  ON  THE  RED  RACE. 

Outlying  colonies  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Nicaragua 
and  in  the  mountains  of  Vera  Paz  rose  to  a  civiliza 
tion  that  rivalled  that  of  the  Montezurnas,  while 
others  remained  in  utter  barbarism  in  the  far  north. 

The  Aztecs  not  only  conquered  a  Maya  colony, 
and  founded  the  empire  of  the  Quiches  in  Central 
America,  a  complete  body  of  whose  mythology  has 
been  brought  to  light  in  late  years,  but  seem  to  have 
made  a  marked  imprint  on  the  Mayas  themselves. 
These  possessed,  as  has  already  been  said,  the  penin 
sula  of  Yucatan.  There  is  some  reason  to  suppose 
they  came  thither  originally  from  the  Greater  An 
tilles,  and  none  to  doubt  but  that  the  Huastecas  who 
lived  on  the  river  Panuco  and  the  Natchez  of  Louisi 
ana  were  offshoots  from  them.  Their  language  is 
radically  distinct  from  that  of  the  Aztecs,  but  their 
calendar  and  a  portion  of  their  mythology  are  com 
mon  property.  They  seem  an  ancient  race  of  mild 
manners  and  considerable  polish.  No  American 
nation  offers  a  more  promising  field  for  study.  Their 
stone  temples  still  bear  testimony  to  their  uncommon 
skill  in  the  arts.  A  trustworthy  tradition  dates  the 
close  of  the  golden  age  of  Yucatan  a  century  anterior 
to  its  discovery  by  Europeans.  Previously  it  had 
been  one  kingdom,  under  one  ruler,  and  prolonged 

relationship,  it  may  be  said  in  passing,  are  as  yet  extremely 
obscure.  The  Shoshonees  when  first  known  dwelt  as  far  north 
as  the  head  waters  of  the  Missouri,  and  in  the  country  now  occu 
pied  by  the  Black  Feet.  Their  language,  which  includes  that  of 
the  Comanche,  Wihinasht,  Utah,  and  kindred  bands,  was  first 
shown  to  have  many  and  marked  affinities  with  that  of  the 
Aztecs  by  Professor  Buschmann  in  his  great  work,  Ueber  die 
Spuren  der  Aztekischen  Sprache  im  nbrdlichen  Mexico  und  JioJie- 
ren  Amerikanischen  Norden,  p.  648  :  Berlin,  1834. 


THE  MUYSCAS  AND  PERUVIANS.  31 

peace  had  fostered  the  growth  of  the  fine  arts ;  but 
when  their  capital  Mayapan  fell,  internal  dissensions 
ruined  most  of  their  cities. 

ISTo  connection  whatever  has  been  shown  between 
the  civilization  of  North  and  South  America.  In  the 
latter  continent  it  was  confined  to  two  totally  foreign 
tribes,  the  Muyscas,  whose  empire,  called  that  of  the 
Zacs,  was  in  the  neighborhood  of  Bogota,  and  the 
Peruvians,  who  in  their  two  related  divisions  of 
Quichuas  and  Aymaras  extended  their  language  and 
race  along  the  highlands  of  the  Cordilleras  from  the 
equator  to  the  thirtieth  degree  of  south  latitude. 
Lake  Titicaca  seems  to  have  been  the  cradle  of  their 
civilization,  offering  another  example  how  inland  seas 
and  well- watered  plains  favor  the  change  from  a 
hunting  to  an  agricultural  life.  These  four  nations, 
the  Aztecs,  the  Mayas,  the  Muyscas  and  the  Peru 
vians,  developed  spontaneously  and  independently 
under  the  laws  of  human  progress  what  civilization 
was  found  among  the  red  race.  They  owed  nothing 
to  Asiatic  or  European  teachers.  The  Incas  it  was 
long  supposed  spoke  a  language  of  their  own,  and 
this  has  been  thought  evidence  of  foreign  extraction ; 
but  Wilhelm  voh  Humboldt  has  shown  conclusively 
that  it  was  but  a  dialect  of  the  common  tongue  of 
their  country.1 

1  His  opinion  was  founded  on  an  analysis  of  fifteen  words  of 
the  secret  language  of  the  Incas  preserved  in  the  Royal  Commen 
taries  of  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega.  On  examination,  they  all  proved 
to  be  modified  forms  from  the  lengua  general  (Meyen,  Ueber  die 
Ureinbeicohner  von  Peru,  p.  6).  The  Quichuas  of  Peru  must  not 
be  confounded  with  the  Quiches  of  Guatemala.  Quiche  is  the 
name  of  a  place,  and  means  "many  trees;"  the  derivation  of 
Quichua  is  unknown.  Muyscas  means  "men."  This  nation 
also  called  themselves  Chibchas. 


82     GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS  ON  THE  RED  RACE. 

When  Columbus  first  touched  the  island  of  Cuba, 
he  was  regaled  with  horrible  stories  of  one-eyed 
monsters  who  dwelt  on  the  other  islands,  but 
plundered  indiscriminately  on  every  hand.  These 
turned  out  to  be  the  notorious  Caribs,  whose  other 
name,  Cannibals,  has  descended  as  a  common  noun  to 
our  language,  expressive  of  one  of  their  inhuman 
practices.  They  had  at  that  time  seized  many  of  the 
Antilles,  and  had  gained  a  foothold  on  the  coast  of 
Honduras  arid  Darien,  but  pointed  for  their  home  to 
the  mainland  of  South  America.  This  they  possessed 
along  the  whole  northern  shore,  inland  at  least  as 
far  as  the  south  bank  of  the  Amazon,  and  west  nearly 
to  the  Cordilleras.  It  is  still  an  open  question 
whether  the  Tupis  and  Guaranis  who  inhabit  the 
vast  region  between  the  Amazon  and  the  Pampas  of 
Buenos  Ayres,  are  affined  to  them.  The  traveller 
D'Orbigny  zealously  maintains  the  affirmative,  and 
there  is  certainly  some  analogy  of  language,  but 
withal  an  inexplicable  contrast  of  character.  The 
latter  were,  and  are,  in  the  main,  a  peaceable,  inoffen 
sive,  apathetic  set,  dull  and  unambitious,  while  the 
Caribs  won  a  terrible  renown  as  bold  warriors,  daring 
navigators,  skilful  in  handicrafts ;  and  their  poisoned 
arrows,  cruel  and  disgusting  habits,  and  enterprise, 
rendered  them  a  terror  and  a  by-word  for  genera 
tions.1 

Our  information  of  the  natives  of  the  Pampas,  Pata 
gonia,  and  the  Land  of  Fire,  is  too  vague  to  permit 

1  The  significance  of  Carib  is  probably  warrior.  It  may  be  the 
same  word  as  Guarani,  which  also  has  this  meaning.  Tupi  or 
Tupa  is  the  name  given  the  thunder,  and  can  only  be  understood 
mythically. 


COURSE  OF  MIGRATIONS  33 

their  positive  identification  with,  the  Araucanians  of 
Chili ;  but  there  is  much  to  render  the  view  plausible. 
Certain  physical  peculiarities,  a  common  unconquer 
able  love  of  freedom,  and  a  delight  in  war,  bring 
them  together,  and  at  the  same  time  place  them  both 
in  strong  contrast  to  their  northern  neighbors.1 

There  are  many  tribes  whose  affinities  remain  to 
be  decided,  especially  on  the  Pacific  coast.  The  lack 
of  inland  water  communication,  the  difficult  nature 
of  the  soil,  and  perhaps  the  greater  antiquity  of  the 
population  there,  seem  to  have  isolated  and  split  up 
beyond  recognition  the  indigenous  families  on  that 
shore  of  the  continent ;  while  the  great  river  systems 
and  broad  plains  of  the  Atlantic  slope  facilitated 
migration  and  intercommunication,  and  thus  pre 
served  national  distinctions  over  thousands  of  square 
leagues. 

These  natural  features  of  the  continent,  compared 
with  the  actual  distribution  of  languages,  offer  our 
only  guides  in  forming  an  opinion  as  to  the  migra 
tions  of  these  various  families  in  ancient  times.  Their 
traditions,  take  even  the  most  cultivated,  are  confused, 
contradictory,  and  in  great  part  manifestly  fabulous. 
To  construct  from  them  by  means  of  daring  combina 
tions  and  forced  interpretations  a  connected  account 
of  the  race  daring  the  centuries  preceding  Columbus 
were  with  the  aid  of  a  vivid  fancy  an  easy  matter, 
but  would  be  quite  unworthy  the  name  of  history. 
The  most  that  can  be  said  with  certainty  is  that  the 

1  The  Araucanians  probably  obtained  their  name  from  two 
Quichua  words,  ari  auccan,  yes !  they  fight ;  an  idiom  very  ex 
pressive  of  their  warlike  character.      They  had  had  long  and 
terrible  wars  with  the  Incas  before  the  arrival  of  Pizarro. 
3 


34     GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS  ON  THE  RED  RACE. 

general  course  of  migrations  in  both  Americas  was 
from  the  high  latitudes  toward  the  tropics,  and 
from  the  great  western  chain  of  mountains  toward 
the  east.  No  reasonable  doubt  exists  but  that  the 
Athapascas,  Algonkins,  Iroquois,  Apalachians,  and 
Aztecs  all  migrated  from  the  north  and  west  to  the 
regions  they  occupied.  In  South  America,  curiously 
enough,  the  direction  is  reversed.  If  the  Caribs  belong 
to  the  Tupi-Guaranay  stem,  and  if  the  Quichuas  be 
long  to  the  Ayrnaras,  as  there  is  strong  likelihood,1 
then  nine-tenths  of  the  population  of  that  vast  con 
tinent  wandered  forth  from  the  steppes  and  valleys  at 
the  head  waters  of  the  Eio  de  la  Plata  toward  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  where  they  came  in  collision  with 
that  other  wave  of  migration  surging  down  from 
high  northern  latitudes.  For  the  banks  of  the  river 
Paraguay  and  the  steppes  of  the  Bolivian  Cordilleras 
are  unquestionably  the  earliest  traditional  homes  of 
both  Tupis  and  Aymaras. 

These  movements  took  place  not  in  large  bodies 
under  the  stimulus  of  a  settled  purpose,  but  step  by 
step,  family  by  family,  as  the  older  hunting  grounds 
became  too  thickly  peopled.  This  fact  hints  unmis 
takably  at  the  gray  antiquity  of  the  race.  It  were 
idle  even  to  guess  how  great  this  must  be,  but  it  is 
possible  to  set  limits  to  it  in  both  directions.  On  the 
one  hand,  not  a  tittle  of  evidence  is  on  record  to 

1  Since  writing  the  text  I  have  received  the  admirable  work  of 
Dr.  von  Martius,  Beitrage  zur  Ethnographic  und  Sprachenkunde 
Amerika's  zumal  Brasiliens,  Leipzig,  1867,  in  which  I  observe 
that  that  profound  student  considers  that  there  is  no  doubt  but 
that  the  Island  Caribs,  and  the  Galibis  of  the  main  land  are  de 
scendants  from  the  same  stock  as  the  Tupis  and  Guaranis. 


AGE  OF  MAN  IN  AMERICA.  85 

carry  the  age  of  man  in  America  beyond  the  present 
geological  epoch.  Dr.  Lund  examined  in  Brazil 
more  than  eight  hundred  caverns,  out  of  which  num 
ber  only  six  contained  human  bones,  and  of  these  six 
only  one  had  with  the  human  bones  those  of  animals 
now  extinct.  Even  in  that  instance  the  original 
stratification  had  been  disturbed,  and  probably  the 
bones  had  been  interred  there.1  This  is  strong  nega 
tive  evidence.  So  in  every  other  example  where  an 
unbiased  and  competent  geologist  has  made  the  exa 
mination,  the  alleged  discoveries  of  human  remains 
in  the  older  strata  have  proved  erroneous. 

The  cranial  forms  of  the  American  aborigines  have 
by  some  been  supposed  to  present  anomalies  distin 
guishing  -  their  race  from  all  others,  and  even  its 
chief  families  from  one  another.  This,  too,  falls  to 
the  ground  before  a  rigid  analysis.  The  last  word  of 
craniology,  which  at  one  time  promised  to  revolu 
tionize  ethnology  and  even  history,  is  that  no  one 
form  of  the  skull  is  peculiar  to  the  natives  of  the  New 
World ;  that  in  the  same  linguistic  family  one  glides 
into  another  by  imperceptible  degrees  ;  and  that  there 
is  as  much  diversity,  and  the  same  diversity  among 
them  in  this  respect  as  among  the  races  of  the  Old 
Continent.2  Peculiarities  of  structure,  though  they 
may  pass  as  general  truths,  offer  no  firm  foundation 

1  Comptes  Rendus,  vol.  xxi.  p.  1368  sqq. 

2  The  two  best  authorities  are  Daniel  Wilson,   The  American 
Cranial  Type,  in  Ann.  Rep.  of  the  Smithson.  Inst.,  1862,  p.  240, 
and  J.  A.  Meigs,  Cranial  Forms  of  the  Amer.  Aborigs. :  Phila. 
1866.     They  accord  in  the  views  expressed  in  the  text  and  in  the 
rejection  of  those  advocated  by  Dr.  S.  G.  Morton  in  the  Crania 
Americana. 


36     GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS  ON  THE  RED  RACE. 

whereon  to  construct  a  scientific  ethnology.  Anatomy 
shows  nothing  unique  in  the  Indian,  nothing  demand 
ing  for  its  development  any  special  antiquity,  still 
less  an  original  diversity  of  type. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  remains  of  primeval  art  and 
the  impress  he  made  upon  nature  bespeak  for  man  a 
residence  in  the  New*  "World  coeval  with  the  most 
distant  events  of  history.  By  remains  of  art  I  do 
not  so  much  refer  to  those  desolate  palaces  which 
crumble  forgotten  in  the  gloom  of  tropical  woods, 
nor  even  the  enormous  earthworks  of  the  Mississippi 
valley  covered  with  the  mould  of  generations  of  forest 
trees,  but  rather  to  the  humbler  and  less  deceptive 
relics  of  his  kitchens  and  his  hunts.  On  the  Atlantic 
coast  one  often  sees  the  refuse  of  Indian  villages, 
where  generation  after  generation  have  passed  their 
summers  in  fishing,  and  left  the  bones,  shells,  and 
charcoal  as  their  only  epitaph.  Ho\v  many  such 
summers  would  it  require  for  one  or  two  hundred 
people  to  thus  gradually  accumulate  a  mound  of  oftal 
eight  or  ten  feet  high  and  a  hundred  yards  across,  as 
is  common  enough  ?  How  many  generations  to  heap 
up  that  at  the  mouth  of  the  Altamaha  Ki  ver,  examined 
and  pronounced  exclusively  of  this  origin  by  Sir 
Charles  Lyell,1  which  is  about  this  height,  and  covers 
ten  acres  of  ground  ?  Those  who,  like  myself,  have 
tramped  over  many  a  ploughed  field  in  search  of 
arrow-heads  must  have  sometimes  been  amazed  at  the 
numbers  which  are  sown  over  the  face  of  our  country, 
betokening  a  most  prolonged  possession  of  the  soil  by 
their  makers.  For  a  hunting  population  is  always 

1  Second  Visit  to  the  United  States,  i.  p.  252. 


INFLUENCE  OF  MAN  ON  NATURE.  37 

sparse,  and  the  collector  finds  only  those  arrow-heads 
which  lie  upon  the  surface. 

Still  more  forcibly  does  nature  herself  bear  wit 
ness  to  this  antiquity  of  possession.  Botanists  de 
clare  that  a  very  lengthy  course  of  cultivation  is 
required  so  to  alter  the  form  of  a  plant  that  it  can  no 
longer  be  identified  with  the  wild  species ;  and  still 
more  protracted  must  be  the  artificial  propagation  for 
it  to  lose  its  power  of  independent  life,  and  to  rely 
wholly  on  man  to  preserve  it  from  extinction.  Now 
this  is  precisely  the  condition  of  the  maize,  tobacco, 
cotton,  quinoa,  and  mandioca  plants,  and  of  that 
species  of  palm  called  by  botanists  the  Gulielma 
speciosa  •  all  have  been  cultivated  from  immemorial 
time  by  the  aborigines  of  America,  and,  except  cot 
ton,  by  no  other  race ;  all  no  longer  are  to  be  identi 
fied  with  any  known  wild  species ;  several  are  sure 
to  perish  unless  fostered  by  human  care.1  What 
numberless  ages  does  this  suggest  ?  How  many  cen 
turies  elapsed  ere  man  thought  of  cultivating  Indian 
corn  ?  How  many  more  ere  it  had  spread  over  nearly 
a  hundred  degrees  of  latitude,  and  lost  all  semblance 
.  to  its  original  form  ?  Who  has  the  temerity  to  an 
swer  these  questions?  The  judicious  thinker  will 
perceive  in  them  satisfactory  reasons  for  dropping 
once  for  all  the  vexed  inquiry,  "  how  America  was 
peopled,"  and  will  smile  at  its  imaginary  solutions, 
whether  they  suggest  Jews,  Japanese,  or,  as  the  latest 
theory  is,  Egyptians. 

1  Martins,  Von  clem  Rechtzustande  unter  den  UreimcoJinern 
Brasiliens,  p.  80  :  Muenclien,  1832  ;  recently  republished  in  bis 
Beitrage  zur  Ethnographic  und  Sprachenkunde  AmerikcCs  :  Leip 
zig  1867. 


38     GENERAL  CONSt DERATIONS  OX  THE  RED  RACE. 

While  these  and  other  considerations  testify  forci 
bly  to  that  isolation  I  have  already  mentioned,  they 
are  almost  equally  positive  for  an  extensive  inter 
course  in  very  distant  ages  between  the  great  families 
of  the  race,  and  for  a  prevalent  unity  of  mental  type, 
or  perhaps  they  hint  at  a  still  visible  oneness  of  de 
scent.  In  their  stage  of  culture,  the  maize,  cotton, 
and  tobacco  could  hardly  have  spread  so  widely  by 
commerce  alone.  Then  there  are  verbal  similarities 
running  through  wide  families  of  languages  which, 
in  the  words  of  Professor  Buschmann,  are  "  calcu 
lated  to  fill  us  with  bewildering  amazement,"1  some 
of  which  will  hereafter  be  pointed  out ;  and  lastly, 
passing  to  the  psychological  constitution  of  the  race, 
we  may  quote  the  words  of  a  sharp-sighted  naturalist, 
whose  monograph  on  one  of  its  tribes  is  unsurpassed 
for  profound  reflections  :  "  Not  only  do  all  the  primi 
tive  inhabitants  of  America  stand  on  one  scale  of  re 
lated  culture,  but  that  mental  condition  of  all  in 
which  humanity  chiefly  mirrors  itself,  to  wit,  their 
religious  and  moral  consciousness,  this  source  of  all 
other  inner  and  outer  conditions,  is  one  with  all, 
however  diverse  the  natural  influences  under  which 
they  live."2 

Penetrated  with  the  truth  of  these  views,  all  arti 
ficial  divisions  into  tropical  or  temperate,  civilized 
or  barbarous,  will  in  the  present  work,  so  far  as  pos 
sible,  be  avoided,  and  the  race  will  be  studied  as  a 
unit,  its  religion  as  the  development  of  ideas  common 
to  all  its  members,  and  its  myths  as  the  garb  thrown 

1  Athapaskisc7ie  Sprachstamm,  p.  164  :    Berlin,  1856. 

2  Martins,    Von  dem  Rechtzustande  unter  den    Ureinwohnern 
Brasiliens,  p.  77. 


WRITERS  ON  AMERICAN  MYTHOLOGY.  39 

around  these  ideas  by  imaginations  more  or  less  fer 
tile,  but  seeking  everywhere  to  embody  the  same 
notions. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE. 

As  the  subject  of  American  mythology  is  a  new  one  to  most 
readers,  and  as  in  its  discussion  everything  depends  on  a  careful 
selection  of  authorities,  it  is  well  at  the  outset  to  review  very 
briefly  what  has  already  been  written  upon  it,  and  to  assign  the 
relative  amount  of  weight  that  in  the  following  pages  will  be 
•given  to  the  works  most  frequently  quoted.  The  conclusions  I 
have  arrived  at  are  so  different  from  those  who  have  previously 
touched  upon  the  topic  that  such  a  step  seems  doubly  advisable. 

The  first  who  undertook  a  philosophical  survey  of  American 
religions  was  Dr.  Samuel  Farmer  Jarvis,  in  1819  (A  Discourse 
on  the  Religion  of  the  Indian  Tribes  of  North  America,  Collections 
of  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  vol.  iii. ,  New  York,  1821).  He 
confined  himself  to  the  tribes  north  of  Mexico,  a  difficult  portion 
of  the  field,  and  at  that  time  not  very  well  known.  The  notion 
of  a  state  of  primitive  civilization  prevented  Dr.  Jarvis  from 
forming  any  correct  estimate  of  the  native  religions,  as  it  led  him 
to  look  upon  them  as  deteriorations  from  purer  faiths  instead  of 
developments.  Thus  he  speaks  of  them  as  having  "  departed  less 
than  among  any  other  nation  from  the  form  of  primeval  truth," 
and  also  mentions  their  "  wonderful  uniformity"  (pp.  219,  221). 

The  well-known  American  ethnologist,  Mr.  E.  G.  Squier,  has 
also  published  a  work  on  the  subject,  of  wider  scope  than  its  title 
indicates  (The  Serpent  Symbol  in  America,  New  York,  1851). 
Though  written  in  a  much  more  liberal  spirit  than  the  preceding, 
it  is  wholly  in  the  interests  of  one  school  of  mythology,  and  it  the 
rather  shallow  physical  one,  so  fashionable  in  Europe  half  a  cen 
tury  ago.  Thus,  with  a  sweeping  generalization,  he  says,  "  The 
religions  or  superstitions  of  the  American  nations,  however  dif 
ferent  they  may  appear  to  the  superficial  glance,  are  rudimentally 
the  same,  and  are  only  modifications  of  that  primitive  system 
which  under  its  physical  aspect  has  been  denominated  Sun  or 
Fire  worship"  (p.  111).  With  this  he  combines  the  favorite  and 
(may  I  add  ?)  characteristic  French  doctrine,  that  the  chief  topic 
of  mythology  is  the  adoration  of  the  generative  power,  and  to 
rescue  such  views  from  their  materializing  tendencies,  imagines 


40     GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS  ON  THE  RED  RACE. 

to  counterbalance  them  a  clear,  universal  monotheism.  "We 
claim  to  have  shown,"  he  says  (p.  154),  "that  the  grand  concep 
tion  of  a  Supreme  Unity  and  the  doctrine  of  the  reciprocal  prin 
ciples  existed  in  America  in  a  well  defined  and  clearly  recognized 
form;"  and  elsewhere  that  "the  monotheistic  idea  stands  out 
clearly  in  all  the  religions  of  America"  (p.  151). 

If  with  a  hope  of  other  views  we  turn  to  our  magnificent 
national  work  on  the  Indians  (History,  Conditions,  and  Prospects 
of  the  Indian  Tribes  of  the  United  States  :  Washington,  1851-9),  a 
great  disappointment  awaits  us.  That  work  was  unfortunate  in 
its  editor.  It  is  a  monument  of  American  extravagance  and  super 
ficiality.  Mr.  Schoolcraft  was  a  man  of  deficient  education  and 
narrow  prejudices,  pompous  in  style,  and  inaccurate  in  state 
ments.  The  information  from  original  observers  it  contains  is 
often  of  real  value,  but  the  general  views  on  aboriginal  history 
and  religion  are  shallow  and  untrustworthy  in  the  extreme. 

A  German  professor,  Dr.  J.  G.  Miillcr,  has  written  quite  a 
voluminous  work  on  American  Primitive  Religions  ( GeschicJite 
der  Amerikanisclien  Ur-religionen,  pp.  707:  Basel,  1855).  His 
theory  is  that  "at  the  south  a  worship  of  nature  with  the  adora 
tion  of  the  sun  as  its  centre,  at  the  north  a  fear  of  spirits  com 
bined  with  fetichism,  made  up  the  two  fundamental  divisions  of 
the  religion  of  the  red  race"  (pp.  89,  90).  This  imaginary  anti 
thesis  he  traces  out  between  the  Algonkin  and  Apalachian  tribes, 
and  between  the  Toltecs  of  Guatemala  and  the  Aztecs  of  Mexico. 
His  quotations  are  nearly  all  at  second  hand,  and  so  little  does  he 
criticize  his  facts  as  to  confuse  the  Vaudoux  worship  of  the  Haitian 
negroes  with  that  of  Votan  in  Chiapa.  His  work  can  in  no  sense 
be  considered  an  authority. 

Very  much  better  is  the  Anthropology  of  the  late  Dr.  Theodore 
WTaitz  (Anthropologie  der  Naturvalker :  Leipzig,  1802-66).  No 
more  comprehensive,  sound,  and  critical  work  on  the  indigenes 
of  America  has  ever  been  written.  But  on  their  religions  the 
author  is  unfortunately  defective,  being  led  astray  by  the  hasty 
and  groundless  generalizations  of  others.  His  great  anxiety, 
moreover,  to  subject  all  moral  sciences  to  a  realistic  philosophy, 
was  peculiarly  fatal  to  any  correct  appreciation  of  religious 
growth,  and  his  views  are  neither  new  nor  tenable. 

For  a  different  reason  I  must  condemn  in  the  most  unqualified 
manner  the  attempt  recently  made  by  the  enthusiastic  and  meri 
torious  antiquary,  the  Abbe  E.  Charles  Brasseur  (deBourbourg), 


THE  SACRED  BOOK  OF  THE  QUICHES.  41 

to  explain  American  mythology  after  the  example  of  Euhemerus, 
of  Thessaly,  as  the  apotheosis  of  history.  This  theory,  which  has 
been  repeatedly  applied  to  other  mythologies  with  invariable 
failure,  is  now  disowned  by  every  distinguished  student  of  Euro 
pean  and  Oriental  antiquity ;  and  to  seek  to  introduce  it  into 
American  religions  is  simply  to  render  them  still  more  obscure 
and  unattractive,  and  to  deprive  them  of  the  only  general  interest 
they  now  have,  that  of  illustrating  the  gradual  development  of 
the  religious  ideas  of  humanity. 

But  while  thus  regretting  the  use  he  has  made  of  them,  all  inte 
rested  in  American  antiquity  cannot  too  much  thank  this  inde 
fatigable  explorer  for  the  priceless  materials  he  has  unearthed  in 
the  neglected  libraries  of  Spain  and  Central  America,  and  laid 
before  the  public.  For  the  present  purpose  the  most  significant 
of  these  is  the  Sacred  National  Book  of  the  Quiches,  a  tribe  of 
Guatemala.  This  contains  their  legends,  written  in  the  original 
tongue,  and  transcribed  by  Father  Francisco  Ximenes  about  1725. 
The  manuscripts  of  this  missionary  were  used  early  in  the  present 
century,  by  Don  Felix  Cabrera,  but  were  supposed  to  be  entirely 
lost  even  by  the  Abbe  Brasseur  himself  in  1850  (Lettre  a  M,  le  Due 
de  Valmy,  Mexique,  Oct.  15, 1850).  Made  awrare  of  their  import 
ance  by  the  expressions  of  regret  used  in  the  Abbe's  letters,  Dr. 
C.  Sherzer,  in  1854,  was  fortunate  enough  to  discover  them  in  the 
library  of  the  University  of  San  Carlos  in  the  city  of  Guatemala. 
The  legends  were  in  Quiche  with  a  Spanish  translation  and  scholia. 
The  Spanish  was  copied  by  Dr.  Scherzer  and  published  in  Vienna, 
in  1856,  under  the  title  Las  Ilistorias  del  Origen  de  los  Indios  de 
Guatemala,  por  el  R.  P.  F.  Francisco  Ximenes.  In  1855  the  Abbe 
Brasseur  took  a  copy  of  the  original  which  he  brought  out  at 
Paris  in  1861,  with  a  translation  of  his  owrn,  under  the  title  VuJi 
Popol:  Le  Livre  Sacre  des  Quiches  et  les  MytJies  de  V  Antiquite 
Americaine.  Internal  evidence  proves  that  these  legends  were 
written  down  by  a  converted  native  some  time  in  the  seventeenth 
century.  They  carry  the  national  history  back  about  two  cen 
turies,  beyond  which  all  is  professedly  mythical.  Although  both 
translations  are  colored  by  the  peculiar  views  of  their  makers, 
this  is  incomparably  the  most  complete  and  valuable  work  on 
American  mythology  extant. 

Another  authority  of  inestimable  value  has  been  placed  within 
the  reach  of  scholars  during  the  last  few  years.  This  is  the  Rela 
tions  de  la  Nouvelle  France,  containing  the  annual  reports  of  the 


42     GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS  ON  THE  RED  RACE. 

Jesuit  missionaries  among  the  Iroquois  and  Algonkins  from  and 
after  1611.  My  references  to  this  are  always  to  the  reprint  at 
Quebec,  1858.  Of  not  less  excellence  for  another  tribe,  the  Creeks, 
is  the  brief  "Sketch  of  the  Creek  Country,"  by  Col.  Benjamin 
Hawkins,  written  about  1800,  and  first  published  in  full  by  the 
Georgia  Historical  Society  in  1848.  Most  of  the  other  works  to 
which  I  have  referred  are  too  well  known  to  need  any  special 
examination  here,  or  will  be  more  particularly  mentioned  in  the 
foot-notes  when  quoted. 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE  IDEA  OF  GOD. 

An  intuition  common  to  the  species. — Words  expressing  it  in  American 
languages  derived  either  from  ideas  of  above  in  space,  or  of  life  mani 
fested  by  breath. — Examples. — No  conscious  monotheism,  and  but 
little  idea  of  immateriality  discoverable. — Still  less  any  moral  dualism 
of  deities,  the  Great  Good  Spirit  and  the  Great  Bad  Spirit  being  alike 
terms  and  notions  of  foreign  importation. 

TF  we  accept  the  definition  that  mythology-  is  the  idea 
*     of  God  expressed  in  symbol,  figure,  and  narra 
tive,  and  always  struggling  toward  a  clearer  utterance, 
it  is  well  not  only  to  trace  this  idea  in  its  very  earliest 
embodiment  in  language,  but  also,  for  the  sake  of 
comparison,  to  ask  what  is  its  latest  and  most  approved 
expression.    The  reply  to  this  is  given  us  by  Immanuel 
Kant.     He  has  shown  that  our  reason,  dwelling  on 
the  facts  of  experience,  constantly  seeks  the  princi 
ples  which  connect  them  together,  and    only  rests 
satisfied  in  the  conviction  that  there  is  a  highest  and 
first  principle  which  reconciles  all  their  discrepancies 
and  binds  them  into  one.     This  he  calls  the  Ideal  of/ 
Reason.     It  must  be  true,  for  it  is  evolved  from  the) 
laws  of  reason,  our  only  test  of  truth.     Furthermore,  \ 
the  sense  of  personality  and  the  voice  of  conscience,  ' 
analyzed  to  their  sources,  can  only  be  explained  by 
the  assumption  of  an  infinite  personality  and  an  ab 
solute  standard  of  right.     Or,  if  to  some  all  this  ap- 


44  THE  IDEA  OF  GOD. 

pears  but  wire-drawn  metaphysical  subtlety,  they  are 
welcome  to  the  definition  of  the  realist,  that  the  idea 
of  God  is  the  sum  of  those  intelligent  activities  which 
the  individual,  reasoning  from  the  analogy  of  his  own 
actions,  imagines  to  be  behind  and  to  bring  about 
natural  phenomena.1  If  either  of  these  be  correct,  it 
were  hard  to  conceive  how  any  tribe  or  even  any  sane 
man  could  be  without  some  notion  of  divinity. 

Certainly  in  America  no  instance  of  its  absence  has 
been  discovered.  Obscure,  grotesque,  unworthy  it 
often  was,  but  everywhere  man  was  oppressed  with 
a  sensus  numinis,  a  feeling  that  invisible,  powerful 
agencies  were  at  work  around  him,  who,  as  they 
willed,  could  help  or  hurt  him.  In  every  heart  was 
an  altar  to  the  Unknown  God.  Not  that  it  was  cus 
tomary  to  attach  any  idea  of  unity  to  these  unseen 
powers.  The  supposition  that  in  ancient  times  and 
in  very  unenlightened  conditions,  before  mythology 
had  grown,  a  monotheism  prevailed,  which  afterwards 
at  various  times  was  revived  by  reformers,  is  a  belief 
that  should  have  passed  away  when  the  delights  of 
savage  life  and  the  praises  of  a  state  of  nature  ceased 
to  be  the  themes  of  philosophers.  We  are  speaking 

1  But  there  is  no  ground  for  the  most  positive  of  philosophers 
to  reject  the  doctrine  of  innate  ideas  when  put  in  a  certain  way. 
The  instincts  and  habits  of  the  lower  animals  by  which  they  ob 
tain  food,  migrate,  and  perpetuate  their  kind,  are  in  obedience  to 
particular  congenital  impressions,  and  correspond  to  definite  ana 
tomical  and  morphological  relations.  No  one  pretends  their 
knowledge  is  experimental.  Just  so  the  human  cerebrum  has 
received,  by  descent  or  otherwise,  various  sensory  impressions 
peculiar  to  man  as  a  species,  which  are  just  as  certain  to  guide 
his  thoughts,  actions,  and  destiny,  as  is  the  cerebrum  of  the  in 
sectivorous  aye-aye  to  lead  it  to  hunt  successfully  for  larvae. 


TEE  WORD  FOR  THE  SUPERNATURAL.  45 

of  a  people  little  capable  of  abstraction.  The  exhi 
bitions  of  force  in  nature  seemed  to  them  the  mani 
festations  of  that  mysterious  power  felt  by  their 
self-consciousness;  to  combine  these  various  mani 
festations  and  recognize  them  as  the  operations  of 
one  personality,  was  a  step  not  easily  taken.  Yet  He 
is  not  far  from  every  one  of  us.  "  Whenever  man 
thinks  clearly,  or  feels  deeply,  he  conceives  God  as 
self-conscious  unity,"  says  Carriere,  with  admirable 
insight;  and  elsewhere,  "we  have  monotheism,  not 
in  contrast  to  polytheism,  not  clear  to  the  thought, 
but  in  living  intuition  in  the  religious  sentiments."1 

Thus  it  was  among  the  Indians.  Therefore  a  word 
is  usually  found  in  their  languages  analogous  to  none 
in  any  European  tongue,  a  word  comprehending  all 
manifestations  of  the  unseen  world,  yet  conveying 
no  sense  of  personal  unity.  It  has  been  rendered 
spirit,  demon,  God,  devil,  mystery,  magic,  but  com 
monly  and  rather  absurdly  by  the  English  and 
French,  "medicine."  In  the  Algonkin  dialects  this 
word  is  manito  and  oki,  in  Iroquois  old  and  oikon,  the 
Dakota  has  wakan,  the  Aztec  teotl,  the  Quichua  huaca, 
and  the  May_a_Jbw.^  They  all  express  in  its  most 
general  form  the  idea  of  the  supernatural.  And  as 
in  this  word,  supernatural,  we  see  a  transfer  of  a 
conception  of  place,  and  that  it  literally  means  that 
which  is  above  the  natural  world,  so  in  such  as  we 
can  analyze  of  these  vague  and  primitive  terms  the 
same  trope  appears  discoverable.  WaJcan  as  an 
adverb  means  above,  oki  is  but  another  orthography 

1  Die  Kunst  im  Zmammenliang  der  Culturentwickelung,  i.  pp. 
50,  252. 


46  THE  IDEA  OF  GOD. 

for  ogliee,  and  otkon  seems  allied  to  hetken,  botli  of 
which  have  the  same  signification.1 

The  transfer  is  no  mere  figure  of  speech,  but  has 
its  origin  in  the  very  texture  of  the  human  mind. 
The  heavens,  the  upper  regions,  are  in  every  religion 
the  supposed  abode  of  the  divine.  What  is  higher 
is  always  the  stronger  and  the  nobler ;  a  superior  is 
one  who  is  better  than  we  are,  and  therefore  a  chief 
tain  in  Algonkin  is  called  oghee-ma,  the  higher  one. 
There  is,  moreover,  a  naif  and  spontaneous  instinct 
which  leads  man  in  his  ecstasies  of  joy,  and  in  his 
paroxysms  of  fear  or  pain,  to  lift  his  hands  and  eyes 
to  the  overhanging  firmament.  There  the  sun  and 
bright  stars  sojourn,  emblems  of  glory  and  stability. 
Its  azure  vault  has  a  mysterious  attraction  which 
invites  the  eye  to  gaze  longer  and  longer  into  its 
infinite  depths.2  Its  color  brings  thoughts  of  sere- 

1  I  offer  these  derivations  with  a  certain  degree  of  reserve,  for 
such  an  extraordinary  similarity  in  the  sound  of  these  words  is 
discoverable  in  North  and  portions  of  South  America,  that  one 
might  almost  be  tempted  to  claim  for  them  one  original  form. 
Thus  in  the  Maya  dialects  it  is  ku,  vocative  a  kue,  in  Natchez 
kue-ya,  in  the  Uchee  of  West  Florida  kauhwu,  in  Otomi  okha, 
in  Mandan  okee,  Sioux  ogha,  waughon,  wakan,  in  Quichua  waka, 
huaca,   in  Iroquois  quaker,   oki,  Algonkin  oki,  okee,   Eskimo 
aghatt,  which  last  has  a  singular  likeness  in  sound  to  the  German 
or  Norse,  0  Gott,  as  some  of  the  others  have  to  the  correspond 
ing  Finnish  word  ukko.     Ku  in  the  Carib  tongue  means  house, 
especially  a  temple  or  house  of  the  gods.     The  early  Spanish  ex 
plorers  adopted  the  word  with  the  orthography  cue,  and  applied 
it  to  the  sacred  edifices  of  whatever  nation  they  discovered.    For 
instance,  they  speak  of  the  great  cemetery  of  Teotilmacan,  near 
Tezcuco,  as  the  Llano  de  los  Cues. 

2  "As  the  high  heavens,  the  far-off  mountains  look  to  us  blue, 
so  a  blue  superficies  seems  to  recede  from  us.     As  we  would  fain 
pursue  an  attractive  object  that  flees  from  us,  so  we  like  to  gaze 


THE  SKY  AS  GOD.  47 

nity,  peace,  sunshine,  and  warmth.  Even  the  rudest 
hunting  tribes  felt  these  sentiments,  arid  as  a  meta 
phor  in  their  speeches,  and  as  a  paint  expressive  of 
friendly  design,  blue  was  in  wide  use  among  them.1 

So  it  came  to  pass  that  the  idea  of  God  was  linked 
to  the  heavens  long  ere  man  asked  himself,  are  the 
heavens  material  and  God  spiritual,  is  He  one,  or  is 
He  many  ?  Numerous  languages  bear  trace  of  this. 
The  Latin  Deus,  the  Greek  Zeus,  the  Sanscrit  Dyaus, 
the  Chinese  Tien,  all  originally  meant  the  sky  above, 
and  our  own  word  heaven  is  often  employed  syno 
nymously  with  God.  There  is  at  first  no  personifi 
cation  in  these  expressions.  They  embrace  all 
unseen  agencies,  they  are  void  of  personality,  and 
yet  to  the  illogical  primitive  man  there  is  nothing 
contradictory  in  making  them  the  object  of  his 
prayers.  The  Mayas  had  legions  of  gods;  "&w," 
says  their  historian,2  "  does  not  signify  any  particular 
god ;  yet  their  prayers  are  sometimes  addressed  to 
hue"  which  is  the  same  word  in  the  vocative  case. 

As  the  Latins  called  their  united  divinities  Superi, 
those  above,  so  Captain  John  Smith  found  that  the 
Powhatans  of  Virginia  employed  the  word  oki,  above, 
in  the  same  sense,  and  it  even  had  passed  into  a  defi 
nite  personification  among  them  in  the  shape  of  an 
"  idol  of  wood  evil-favoredly  carved."  In  purer 
dialects  of  the  Algonkin  it  is  always  indefinite,  as 
in  the  terms  nipoon  oki,  spirit  of  summer,  pipoon  oki, 

at  the  blue,  not  that  it  urges  itself  aipon  us,  but  that  it  draws  us 
after  it."  Goethe,  Farbenlehre,  sees.  780,  781. 

1  Loskiel,  Geschichte  der  Mission  der  Evang.  Brueder,  p.  63 : 
Barby,  1789. 

2  Cogolludo,  Historia  de  Yucathan,  lib.  iv.  cap.  vii. 


48  THE  IDEA  OF  GOD. 

spirit  of  winter.  Perhaps  the  word  was  introduced 
into  Iroquois  by  the  Hurons,  neighbors  and  associ 
ates  of  the  Algonkins.  The  Hurons  applied  it  to 
that  demoniac  power  "  who  rules  the  seasons  of  the 
year,  who  holds  the  winds  and  the  waves  in  leash, 
who  can  give  fortune  to  their  undertakings,  and 
relieve  all  their  wants."1  In  another  and  far  distant 
branch  of  the  Iroquois,  the  Nottoways  of  southern 
Virginia,  it  reappears  under  the  curious  form  quaker, 
doubtless  a  corruption  of  the  Powhatan  qui-oki,  lesser 
gods.2  The  proper  Iroquois  name  of  him  to  whom 
they  prayed  was  garonhia,  which  again  turns  out  on 
examination  to  be  their  common  word  for  sky,  and 
again  in  all  probability  from  the  verbal  root  gar,  to 
be  above.3  In  the  legends  of  the  Aztecs  and  Quiches 
such  phrases  as  "  Heart  of  the  Sky,"  "  Lord  of  the 
Sky,"  "Prince  of  the  Azure  Planisphere,"  "He 
above  all,"  are  of  frequent  occurrence,  and  by  a  still 
bolder  metaphor,  the  Araucanians,  according  to 
Molina,  entitled  their  greatest  god  "The  Soul  of  the 
Sky." 

This  last  expression  leads  to  another  train  of 
thought.  As  the  philosopher,  pondering  on  the 
workings  of  self-consciousness,  recognizes  that  vari- 

1  Eel.  de  la  Nouv.  France.     An  1636,  p.  107. 

2  This  word  is  found  in  Gallatin's  vocabularies  {Transactions 
of  the  Am.  Antiq.  Soc.,  vol.  ii.),  and  may  have  partially  induced 
that  distinguished  ethnologist  to  ascribe,  as  he  does  in  more  than 
one  place,  whatever  notions  the  eastern  tribes  had  of  a  Supreme 
Being  to  the  teachings  of  the  Quakers. 

3  Bruyas,  Radices  Verborum  Iroquceorum,  p.  84.     This  work 
is  in  Shea's  Library  of  American  Linguistics,  and  is  a  most  valua- . 
ble  contribution  to  philology.     The  same  etymology  is  given  by 
Lafitau,  Mceurs  des  Sauvages,  etc.,  Germ,  trans.,  p.  63. 


TEE  SOUL  AND  THE  BREATH.  49 

ous  pathways  lead  up  to  God,  so  the  primitive 
man,  in  forming  his  language,  sometimes  trod  one, 
sometimes  another.  Whatever  else  sceptics  have 
questioned,  no  one  has  yet  presumed  to  doubt  that 
if  a  God  and  a  soul  exist  at  all,  they  are  of  like 
essence.  This  firm  belief  has  left  its  impress  on 
language  in  the  names  devised  to  express  the  super 
nal,  the  spiritual  world.  If  we  seek  hints  from 
languages  more  familiar  to  us  than  the  tongues  of 
the  Indians,  and  take  for  example  this  word  spiritual, 
we  find  it  is  from  the  Latin  spirare,  to  blow,  to 
breathe.  If  in  Latin  again  we  look  for  the  deriva 
tion  of  animus,  the  mind,  anima,  the  soul,  they  point 
to  the  Greek  anemos,  wind,  and  aemi,  to  blow.  In 
Greek  the  words  for  soul  or  spirit,  psuche,  pneuma, 
thumos,  all  are  directly  from  verbal  roots  expressing 
the  motion  of  the  wind  or  the  breath.  The  Hebrew 
word  ruah  is  translated  in  the  Old  Testament  some 
times  by  wind,  sometimes  by  spirit,  sometimes  by 
breath.  Etymologically,  in  fact,  ghosts  and  gusts, 
breaths  and  breezes,  the  Great  Spirit  and  the  Great 
Wind,  are  one  and  the  same.  It  is  easy  to  guess  the 
reason  of  this.  The  soul  is  the  life,  the  life  is  the 
breath.  Invisible,  imponderable,  quickening  with 
vigorous  motion,  slackening 'in  rest  and  sleep,  pass 
ing  quite  away  in  death,  it  is  the  most  obvious  sign 
of  life.  All  nations  grasped  the  analogy  and  identi 
fied  the  one  with  the  other.  But  the  breath  is 
nothing  but  wind.  How  easy,  therefore,  to  look  upon 
the  wind  that  moves  up  and  down  and  to  and  fro 
upon  the  earth,  that  carries  the  clouds,  itself  unseen, 
that  calls  forth  the  terrible  tempests  and  the  various 
seasons,  as  the  breath,  the  spirit  of  God,  as  God 
4 


50  THE  IDEA  OF  GOD. 

himself?  So  in  the  Mosaic  record  of  creation,  it  is 
said  "  a  mighty  wind"  passed  over  the  formless  sea 
and  brought  forth  the  world,  and  when  the  Almighty 
gave  to  the  clay  a  living  soul,  he  is  said  to  have 
breathed  into  it  "  the  wind  of  lives." 

Armed  with  these  analogies,  we  turn  to  the  primi 
tive  tongues  of  America,  and  find  them  there  as  dis 
tinct  as  in  the  Old  World.  In  Dakota  niya  is  literally 
breath,  figuratively  life ;  in  Netelapmfc  is  life,  breath, 
and  soul ;  silla,  in  Eskimo,  means  air,  it  means  wind, 
but  it  is  also  the  word  that  conveys  the  highest  idea 
of  the  world  as  a  whole,  and  the  reasoning  faculty. 
The  supreme  existence  they  call  Sillam  Innua,  Owner 
of  the  Air,  or  of  the  All ;  or  Sillam  Nelega,  Lord  of  the 
Air  or  "Wind.  In  the  Yakama  tongue  of  Oregon 
wJcri-sha  signifies  there  is  wind,  wJcrishwit^  life ;  with 
the  Aztecs,  ehecatl  expressed  both  air,  life,  and  the 
soul,  and  personified  in  their  myths  it  was  said  to 
have  been  born  of  the  breath  of  Tezcatlipoca,  their 
highest  divinity,  who  himself  is  often  called  Yoallie- 
hecatl,  the  Wind  of  Night.1 

The  descent  is,  indeed,  almost  imperceptible  which 
leads  to  the  personification  of  the  wind  as  God,  which 
merges  this  manifestation  of  life  and  power  in  one 
with  its  unseen,  unknown  cause.  Thus  it  was  a 
worthy  epithet  which  the  Creeks  applied  to  their ' 
supreme  invisible  ruler,  when  they  addressed  him  as 
ESAUGETUH  EMISSEE,  Master  of  Breath,  and  doubt 
less  it  was  at  first  but  a  title  of  equivalent  purport 

1  My  authorities  are  Riggs,  Diet,  of  the  Dakota,  Boscana,  Ac 
count  of  New  California,  Richardson's  and  Egede's  Eskimo - 
Vocabularies,  Pandosy,  Gram,  and  Diet,  of  the  Yakama  (Shea's 
Lib.  of  Am.  Linguistics),  and  the  Abbe  Brasseur.  for  the  Aztec. 


GOD  IN  THE  WIXD.  51 

which  the  Cherokees,  their  neighbors,  were  wont  to 
employ,  OONAWLEH  UNGGI,  Eldest  of  Winds,  but 
rapidly  leading  to  a  complete  identification  of  the 
divine  with  the  natural  phenomena  of  meteorology. 
This  seems  to  have  taken  place  in  the  same  group  of 
nations,  for  the  original  Choctaw  word  for  Deity  was 
HUSHTOLI,  the  Storm  Wind.1  The  idea,  indeed,  was 
constantly  being  lost  in  the  symbol.  In  the  legends 
of  the  Quiches,  the  mysterious  creative  power  is 
HUKAKAX,  a  name  of  no  signification  in  their  lan 
guage,  one  which  their  remote  ancestors  brought  with 
them  from  the  Antilles,  which  finds  its  meaning  in 
the  ancient  tongue  of  Haiti,  and  which,  under  the 
forms  of  hurricane,  ouragan,  orkan,  was  adopted  into 
European  marine  languages  as  the  native  name  of  the 
terrible  tornado  of  the  Caribbean  Sea.2  Mixcohuatl, 
the  Cloud  Serpent,  chief  divinity  of  several  tribes  in 
ancient  Mexico,  is  to  this  day  the  correct  term  in 
their  language  for  the  tropical  whirlwind,  and  the 
natives  of  Panama  worshipped  the  same  phenomenon 

1  These  terms  are  found  in  Gallatin's  vocabularies.     The  last 
mentioned  is  not,  as  Adair  thought,  derived  from  issto  ulla  or 
ishto  lioollo,  great  man,  for  in  Choctaw  the  adjective  cannot  pre 
cede  the  noun  it  qualifies.     Its  true  sense  is  visible  in  the  analo 
gous  Creek  words  ishtali,  the  storm  wind,  and  hustolaJb,  the 
windy  season. 

2  Webster  derives  hurricane  from  the  Latin  furio.    But  Ovieclo 
tells  us  in  his  description  of  Hispaniola  that  "  Hurakan,  in  lingua 
di  questa  isola  vuole  dire  propriamente  fortuna  tempestuosa  molto 
eccessiva,  perche  en  effetto  non  e  altro  que  un  grandissimo  vento 
e  pioggia  insieme."     Historia  delV  Indie,  lib.  vi.  cap.  iii.     It  is 
a  coincidence — perhaps  snm  thing  more  —  that  in  the  Quiclma 
language  huracan,  third  person  singular  present  indicative  of  the 
verbal  noun  huraca,  means  "a  stream  of  water  falls  perpendi 
cularly."     (Markham,  Quichtia  Dictionary,  p.  132.) 


52  THE  IDEA  OF  GOD. 

under  the  name  Tuyra.1  To  kiss  the  air  was  in  Peru 
the  commonest  and  simplest  sign  of  adoration  .to  the 
collective  divinities.2 

Many  writers  on  mythology  have  commented  on 
the  prominence  so  frequently  given  to  the  winds. 
None  have  traced  it  to  its  true  source.  The  facts  of 
meteorology  have  been  thought  all  sufficient  for  a 
solution.  As  if  man  ever  did  or  eve^could^drgjacjthe 
idea  of  God  from  nature !  In  the  identity  of  wind 
with  breath,  of  breath  with  life,  of  life  with  soul,  of 
soul  with  God,  lies  the  far  deeper  and  far  truer  rea 
son,  whose  insensible  development  I  have  here  traced, 
in  outline  indeed,  but  confirmed  by  the  evidence  of 
language  itself. 

Let  none  of  these  expressions,  however,  be  con 
strued  to  prove  the  distinct  recognition  of  One  Su 
preme  Being.  Of  monotheism  either  as  displayed  in 
the  one  personal  definite  God  of  the  Semitic  races,  or 
in  the  dim  pantheistic  sense  of  the  Brahmins,  there 
was  not  a  single  instance  on  the  American  continent. 
The  missionaries  found  no  word  in  any  of  their  lan 
guages  fit  to  interpret  Deus,  God.  How  could  they 
expect  it  ?  The  associations  we  attach  to  that  name 
are  the  accumulated  fruits  of  nigh  two  thousand 
years  of  Christianity.  The  phrases  Good  Spirit, 
Great  Spirit,  and  similar  ones,  have  occasioned  end 
less  discrepancies  in  the  minds  of  travellers.  In 
most  instances  they  are  entirely  of  modern  origin, 
coined  at  the  suggestion  of  missionaries,  applied  to 
the  white  man's  God.  Very  rarely  do  they  bring  any 

1  Ovicdo,  Eel.  de  la  Prov.  de  Cueba,  p.  141,  ed.  Ternaux-Com- 
pans. 

2  Garcia,  Origen  de  los  Indies,  lib.  iv.  cap.  xxii. 


NO  CONSCIOUS  MONOTHEISM.  53 

conception  of  personality  to  the  native  mind,  very 
rarel^do  they  signify  any  object  of  worship,  perhaps 
never  did  in  the  olden  times.  The  Jesuit  Relations 
state  positively  that  there  was  no  one  immaterial 
god  recognized  by  the  Algonkin  tribes,  and  that 
the  title,  the  Great  Manito,  Vas  introduced  first  by 
themselves  in  its  personal  sense.1  The  supreme  Iro- 
quois  Deity  Neo  or  Hawaneu,  triumphantly  adduced 
by  many  writers  to  show  the  monotheism  underlying 
the  native  creeds,  and  upon  whose  name  Mr.  School- 
craft  has  built  some  philological  reveries,  turns  out 
on  closer  scrutiny  to  be  the  result  of  Christian  in 
struction,  and  the  words  themselves  to  be  but  corrup 
tions  of  the  French  Dieu  and  le  bon  Dieu  !* 

Innumerable    mysterious    forces    are    in   activity 
around  the  child  of  nature;  he  feels  within  him  some 
thing  that  tells  him  they  are  not  of  his  kind,  and  yet 
not  altogether  different  from  him  ;  he  sums  them  up 
in  one  word  drawn  from  sensuous  experience.     Does  f 
he  wish  to  express  still  more  forcibly  this  sentiment,  1 
he  doubles  the  word,  or  prefixes  an  adjective,  or  adds 
an  affix,  as  the  genius  of  his  language  may  dictate. 
But  it  still  remains  to  him  but  an  unapplied  abstrac 
tion,  a  mere  category  of  thought,  a  frame  for  the  All.  j 
It  is  never  the  object  of  veneration  or  sacrifice,  no 
myth  brings  it  down  to  his  comprehension,  it  is  not 

1  See  the  Eel.  de  la  Nouv.  France  pour  V  An  1637,  p.  49. 

2  Mr.  Morgan,  in  his  excellent  work,  The  League  of  the  Iro- 
quois,  has  been  led  astray  by  an  ignorance  of  the  etymology  of 
these  terms.     For  Schoolcraft's  views  see  his  Oneota,   p.  147. 
The  matter  is  ably  discussed  in  the  Etudes  Philologiques  sur 
Quelques  Langues  Sauvages  de  VAmerique,  p.  14:  Montreal,  1866  ; 
but  conip.  Shea,  Diet.  Fran^ais-  Onontague,  preface. 


54  THE  IDEA  OF  GOD. 

installed  in  his  temples.  Man  cannot  escape  the 
belief  that  behind  all  form  is  one  essence;  but  the 
moment  he  would  seize  and  define  it,  it  eludes  his 
grasp,  and  by  a  sorcery  more  sadly  ludicrous  than 
that  which  blinded  Titania,  he  worships  not  the  Infi 
nite  he  thinks  but  a  base  idol  of  his  own  making. 
As  in  the  Zend  A  vesta  behind  the  eternal  struggle 
of  Ormuzd  and  Ahriman  looms  up  the  undisturbed 
and  infinite  Zeruana  Akerana,  as  in  the  pages  of  the 
Greek  poets  we  here  and  there  catch  glimpses  of  a 
Zeus  who  is  not  he  throned  on  Olympus,  nor  he  who 
takes  part  in  the  wrangles  of  the  gods,  but  stands 
far  off  and  alone,  one  yet  all,  "who  was,  who  is,  who 
will  be,"  so  the  belief  in  an  Unseen  Spirit,  who  asks 
neither  supplication  nor  sacrifice,  who,  as  the  natives 
of  Texas  told  Joutel  in  1684:,  "  does  not  concern  him 
self  about  things  here  below,"1  who  has  no  name  to 
call  him  by,  and  is  never  a  figure  in  mythology,  was 
doubtless  occasionally  present  to  their  minds.  It 
was  present  not  more  but  far  less  distinctly  and  often 
not  at  all  in  the  more  savage  tribes,  and  no  assertion 
can  be  more  contrary  to  the  laws  of  religious  pro 
gress  than  that  which  pretends  that  a  purer  and  more 
monotheistic  religion  exists  among  nations  devoid  of 
mythology.  There  are  only  two  instances  on  the 
American  continent  where  the  worship  of  an  immate 
rial  God  was  definitely  instituted,  and  these  as  the 
highest  conquests  of  American  natural  religions  de 
serve  especial  mention.  * 

They  occurred,  as  we  might  expect,  in  the  two  most 

1  "  Qui  ne  prend  aucun  soin  des  choscs  icy  bas."     Jour.  Hist. 
iVun  Voyage  de  V  Amerique,  p.  225:   Paris,  1713. 


THE  HERESY  OF  THE  IXC  A.  55 

civilized  nations,  the  Quichuas  of  Peru,  and  the 
Nahuas  of  Tezcuco.  It  is  related  that  about  the  year 
1440,  at  a  grand  religious  council  held  at  the  conse 
cration  of  the  newly-built  temple  of  the  Sun  at 
Cuzco,  the  Inca  Yupanqui  rose  before  the  assembled 
multitude  and  spoke  somewhat  as  follows : — 

':  Many  say  that  the  Sun  is  the  Maker  of  all  things. 
But  he  who  makes  should  abide  by  what  he  has  made. 
Now  many  things  happen  when  the  Sun  is  absent ; 
therefore  he  cannot  be  the  universal  creator.  And 
that  he  is  alive  at  all  is  doubtful,  for  his  trips  do  not 
tire  him.  Were  he  a  living  thing,  he  would  grow 
weary  like  ourselves ;  were  he  free,  he  would  visit 
other  parts  of  the  heavens.  He  is  like  a  tethered 
beast  who  makes  a  daily  round  under  the  eye  of  a 
master ;  he  is  like  an  arrow,  which  must  go  whither 
it  is  sent,  not  whither  it  wishes.  I  tell  you  that  he, 
our  Father  and  Master  the  Sun,  must  have  a  lord  arid 
master  more  powerful  than  himself,  who  constrains 
him  to  his  daily  circuit  without  pause  or  rest."1 

To  express  this  greatest  of  all  existences,  a  name 
was  proclaimed,  based  upon  that  of  the  highest  divi 
nities  known  to  the  ancient  Aymara  race,  Illatici 
Yiracocha  Pachacamac,  literally,  the  thunder  vase, 
the  foam  of  the  sea,  animating  the  world,  mysterious 
and  symbolic  names  drawn  from  the  deepest  reli- 

1  In  attributing  this  speech  to  the  Inca  Yupanqui,  I  have  fol 
lowed  Balboa,  who  expressly  says  this  was  the  general  opinion  of 
the  Indians  (Hist,  du  Perou,  p.  62,  ed.  Ternaux-Compans). 
Others  assign  it  to  other  Incas.  See  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  Hist, 
des  Incas,  lib.  viii.  chap.  8,  and  Acosta,  Nat.  and  Morall  Hist, 
of  the  New  World,  chap.  5.  The  fact  and  the  approximate  time 
are  beyond  question. 


56  THE  IDEA  OF  GOD. 

gious  instincts  of  the  soul,  whose  hidden  meanings 
will  be  unravelled  hereafter.  A  temple  was  con 
structed  in  a  vale  by  the  sea  near  Callao,  wherein 
his  worship  was  to  be  conducted  without  images  or 
human  sacrifices.  The  Inca  was  ahead  of  his  age, 
however,  and  when  the  Spaniards  visited  the  temple 
of  Pachacamac  in  1525,  they  found  not  only  the 
walls  adorned  with  hideous  paintings,  but  an  ugly 
idol  of  wood  representing  a  man  of  colossal  propor 
tions  set  up  therein,  and  receiving  the  prayers  of  the 
votaries.1 

No  better  success  attended  the  attempt  of  Neza- 
huatl,  lord  of  Tezcuco,  which  took  place  about  the 
same  time.  He  had  long  prayed  to  the  gods  of  his 
forefathers  for  a  son  to  inherit  his  kingdom,  and  the 
altars  had  smoked  vainly  with  the  blood  of  slaugh 
tered  victims.  At  length,  in  indignation  and  despair, 
the  prince  exclaimed,  "Verily,  these  gods  that  I  am 
adoring,  what  are  they  but  idols  of  stone  without 
speech  or  feeling?  They  could  not  have  made  the 
beauty  of  the  heaven,  the  sun,  the  moon,,  and  the 
stars  which  adorn  it,  and  which  light  the  earth,  with 
its  countless  streams,  its  fountains  and  waters,  its 
trees  and  plants,  and  its  various  inhabitants.  There 
must  be  some  god,  invisible  and  unknown,  who  is 
the  universal  creator.  He  alone  can  console  me  in 
my  affliction  and  take  away  my  sorrow."  Strength 
ened  in  this  conviction  by  a  timely  fulfilment  of  his 
heart's  desire,  he  erected  a  temple  nine  stories  high 
to  represent  the  nine  heavens,  which  he  dedicated 

1  Xeres,  Eel.  de  la  Cong,  du  Perou,  p.  151,  ed.  Ternaux-Coni- 
pans. 


NAMES  OF  DEITY.  57 

"  to  the  Unknown  God,  the  Cause  of  Causes."  This 
temple,  he  ordained,  should  never  be  polluted  by 
blood,  nor  should  any  graven  image  ever  be  set  up 
within  its  precincts.1 

In  neither  case,  be  it  observed,  was  any  attempt 
made  to  substitute  another  and  purer  religion  for  the 
popular  one.  The  Inca  continued  to  receive  the 
homage  of  his  subjects  as  a  brother  of  the  sun,  and 
the  regular  services  to  that  luminary  were  never 
interrupted.  Nor  did  the  prince  of  Tezcuco  after 
wards  neglect  the  honors  due  his  national  gods,  nor 
even  refrain  himself  from  plunging  the  knife  into 
the  breasts  of  captives  on  the  altar  of  the  god  of 
war.2  They  were  but  expressions  of  that  monothe 
ism  which  is  ever  present,  "  not  in  contrast  to  poly 
theism,  but  in  living  intuition  in  the  religious  senti 
ments."  If  this  subtle  but  true  distinction  be  rightly 
understood,  it  will  excite  no  surprise  to  find  such 
epithets  as  "endless,"  "omnipotent,"  "invisible," 
"adorable,"  such  appellations  as  "the  Maker  and 
Moulder  of  All,"  "the  Mother  and  Father  of  Life," 
"the  One  God  complete  in  perfection  and  unity," 
"  the  Creator  of  all  that  is,"  "  the  Soul  of  the  World," 
in  use  and  of  undoubted  indigenous  origin  not  only 
among  the  civilized  Aztecs,  but  even  among  the 
Haitians,  the  Araucanians,  the  Lenni  Lenape,  and 
others.3  It  will  not  seem  contradictory  to  hear  of 

1  Prescott,  Conq.  of  Mexico,  i.  pp.  192,  193,  on  the  authority 
of  Ixtlilxochitl. 

*  Brasseur,  Hist,  du  Mexique,  iii.  p.  297,  note. 

3  Of  very  many  authorities  that  I  have  at  hand,  I  shall  only 
mention  Heckewelcler,  Ace.  of  the  Inds.  p.  422,  Duponceau, 
Mem.  sur  les  Langues  de  VAmtr.  du  Nord,  p.  310,  Peter  Martyr 


58  THE  IDEA  OF  GOD. 

them  in  a  purely  polytheistic  worship ;  we  shall  be 
far  from  regarding  them  as  familiar  to  the  popular 
mind,  and  we  shall  never  be  led  so  far  astray  as  to 
adduce  them  in  evidence  of  a  monotheism  in  either 
technical  sense  of  that  word.  In  point  of  fact  they 
were,  not  applied  to  any  particular  god  even  in  the 
most  enlightened  nations,  but  were  terms  of  laudation 
and  magniloquence  used  by  the  priests  and  devotees 
of  every  several  god  to  do  him  honor.  They  prove 
something  in  regard  to  a  consciousness  of  divinity 
hedging  us  about,  but  nothing  at  all  in  favor  of  a 
recognition  of  one  God ;  they  exemplify  how  pro 
found  is  the  conviction  of  a  highest  and  first  princi 
ple,  but  they  do  not  offer  the  least  reason  to  surmise 
that  this  was  a  living  reality  in  doctrine  or  practice. 
The  confusion  of  these  distinct  ideas  has  led  to 

De  Rebus  Oceanicis,  Dec.  i.,  cap.  9,  Molina,  Hist,  of  Chili,  ii. 
p.  75,  Ximenes,  Origen  .de  los  Indios  de  Guatemala,  pp.  4,  5, 
Ixtlilxocliitl,  Rel.  des  Conq.  du  Mexique,  p.  2.  These  terms 
bear  the  severest  scrutiny.  The  Aztec  appellation  of  the  Supreme 
Being  Tloque  nahuaque  is  compounded  of  tloc,  together,  with, 
and  naJiuac,  at,  by,  with,  with  possessive  forms  added,  giving 
the  signification,  Lord  of  all  existence  and  coexistence  (alles 
Mitseyns  und  alles  Beiseyns,  bei  welchem  das  Seyn  aller  Dinge 
ist.  Buschmann,  Ueber  die  Aztekischen  Ortsnamen,  p.  642). 
The  Algonkin  term  Kittanittowit  is  derived  from  kitta,  great, 
manito,  spirit,  wit,  an  adjective  termination  indicating  a  mode 
of  existence,  and  means  the  Great  Living  Spirit  (Duponceau, 
u.  s.).  Both  these  terms  are  undoubtedly  of  native  origin.  In 
the  Quiche  legends  the  Supreme  Being  is  called  Bitol,  the  sub 
stantive  form  of  bit,  to  make  pottery,  to  form,  and  Tzakol,  sub 
stantive  form  of  tzak,  to  build,  the  Creator,  the  Constructor. 
The  Arowacks  of  Guyana  applied  the  term  Aluberi  to  their 
highest  conception  of  a  first  cause,  from  the  verbal  form  alin,  lie 
who  makes  (Martins,  Ethnographie  und  Sprachenkunde  Ame- 
rika^s,  i.  p.  Gt)G). 


THE  IDEA  OF  THE  DEVIL.  59 

much  misconception  of  the  native  creeds.  But  another 
and  more  fatal  error  was  that  which  distorted  them 
into  a  dualistic  form,  ranging  on  one  hand  the  good 
spirit  with  his  legions  of  angels,  on  the  other  the  evil 
one  with  his  swarms  of  fiends,  representing  the  world 
as  the  scene  of  their  unending  conflict,  man  as  the 
unlucky  football  who  gets  all  the  blows.  This  no 
tion,  which  has  its  historical  origin  among  the  Parsees 
of  ancient  Iran,  is  unknown  to  savage  nations.  "  The 
idea  of  the  Devil,"  justly  observes  Jacob  Grimm,  "is 
foreign  to  all  primitive  religions."  Yet  Professor 
Mueller,  in  his  voluminous  work  on  those  of  America, 
after  approvingly  quoting  this  saying,  complacently 
proceeds  to  classify  the  deities  as  good  or  bad  spirits  I1 
This  view,  which  has  obtained  without  question 
in  every  work  on  the  native  religions  of  America, 
has  arisen  partly  from  habits  of  thought  difficult  to 
break,  partly  from  mistranslations  of  native  words, 
partly  from  the  foolish  axiom  of  the  early  mission 
aries,  "  The  gods  of  the  gentiles  are  devils."  Yet 
their  own  writings  furnish  conclusive  proof  that  no 
such  distinction  existed  out  of  their  own  fancies. 
The  same  word  (olkon)  which  Father  Bruyas  employs 
to  translate  into  Iroquois  the  term  "  devil,"  in  the 
passage  "the  Devil  took  upon  himself  the  figure  of  a 
serpent,"  he  is  obliged  to  use  for  "spirit"  in  the 
phrase,  "at  the  resurrection  we  shall  be  spirits,"2 
which  is  a  rather  amusing  illustration  how  impossible 
it  was  by  any  native  word  to  convey  the  idea  of  the 
spirit  of  evil.  When,  in  1570,  Father  Kogel  com- 

1  GescMchte  der  Amerikanischen  ITrreligionen,  p.  403. 

2  Bruyas,  Rad.  Verb.  Iroquceoruin,  p.  38. 


60  THE  IDEA  OF  GOD. 

menced  his  labors  among  the  tribes  near  the  Sa 
vannah  Eiver,  he  told  them  that  the  deity  they 
adored  was  a  demon  who  loved  all  evil  things,  and 
they  must  hate  him  ;  whereupon  his  auditors  replied, 
that  so  far  from  this  being  the  case,  whom  he  called 
a  wicked  being  was  the  power  that  sent  them  all  good 
things,  and  indignantly  left  the  missionary  to  preach 
to  the  winds.1 

A  passage  often  quoted  in  support  of  this  mistaken 
view  is  one  in  Winslow's  "  Good  News  from  New 
England,"  written  in  1622.  The  author  says  that  the 
Indians  worship  a  good  power  called  Kiehtan,  and 
another  "who,  as  farre  as  wee  can  conceive,  is 
the  Devill,"  named  Hobbamock,  or  Hobbamoqui. 
The  former  of  these  names  is  merely  the  word  "great," 
in  their  dialect  of  Algonkin,  with  a  final  %,  and  is 
probably  an  abbreviation  of  Kittanitowit,  the  grent 
manito,  a  vague  term  mentioned  by  Eoger  Williams 
and  other  early  writers,  not  the  appellation  of  any 
personified  deity.2  The  latter,  so  far  from  corres 
ponding  to  the  power  of  evil,  was,  according  to 
Winslow's  own  statement,  the  kindly  god  who  cured 
diseases,  aided  them  in  the  chase,  and  appeared  to 
them  in  dreams  as  their  protector.  Therefore,  with 
great  justice,  Dr.  Jarvis  has  explained  it  to  mean  "the 

1  Alcazar,   Chrono-hutoria  de  la  Prov.  de  Toledo,  Dec.  iii., 
Ano  viii.,  cap.  iv:    Madrid,  1710.      This  rare  work  contains 
the  only  faithful  copies  of  Father  Roger s  letters  extant.     Mr. 
Shea,  in  his  History  of  Catholic  Missions,  calls  him  erroneously 
Roger. 

2  It  is  fully  analyzed  by  Duponceau,  Langues  de  V  Amerique  du 
Nord,  p.  309. 


NO  DUALISM  IN  DEITIES.  61 

pke  or  tutelary  deity  which  each  Indian  worships,"  as 
the  word  itself  signifies.1 

So  in  many  instances  it  turns  out  that  what  has 
been  reported  to  be  the  evil  divinity  of  a  nation,  to 
whom  they  pray  to  the  neglect  of  a  better  one,  is  in 
reality  the  highest  power  they  recognize.  Thus 
Juripari,  worshipped  by  certain  tribes  of  the  Pam 
pas  of  Buenos  Ayres,  and  said  to  be  their  wicked 
spirit,  is  in  fact  the  only  name  in  their  language  for 
spiritual  existence  in  general ;  and  Aka-kanet,  some 
times  mentioned  as  the  father  of  evil  in  the  mythol 
ogy  of  the  Araucanians,  is  the  benign  power  appealed 
to  by  their  priests,  who  is  throned  in  the  Pleiades,  who 
sends  fruits  and  flowers  to  the  earth,  and  is  addressed 
,as  "grandfather."2  The  Qupay  of  the  Peruvians  never 
was,  as  Prescott  would  have  us  believe,  "the  shadowy 
embodiment  of  evil,"  but  simply  and  solely  their  god 
of  the  dead,  the  Pluto  of  their  pantheon,  correspond 
ing  to  the  Mictla  of  the  Mexicans. 

The  evidence  on  the  point  is  indeed  conclusive. 
The  Jesuit  missionaries  very  rarely  distinguish  be 
tween  good  and  evil  deities  when  speaking  of  the 
religion  of  the  northern  tribes;  and  the  Moravian 
Brethren  among  the  Algonkins  and  Iroquois  place  on 
record  their  unanimous  testimony  that  "  the  idea  of  a 

1  Discourse  on  the  Religion  of  the  Ind.  Tribes  of  N.  Am.,  p.  252 
in  the  Trans.  N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc. 

2  Mueller,  Amer.  Urreligionen,  pp.  265,  272,  274.    Well  may 
he  remark:   "The  dualism  is  not  very  striking  among  these 
tribes;"  as  a  few  pages  previous  he  says  of  the  Caribs,  "The 
dualism  of  gods  is  anything  but  rigidly  observed.     The  good 
gods  do  more  evil  than  good.     Fear  is  the  ruling  religious  senti 
ment."     To   such  a  lame  conclusion  do  these  venerable  pre 
possessions  lead.     "Grau  ist  alle'Theorie." 


62  THE  IDEA  OF  GOD. 

devil,  a  prince  of  darkness,  they  first  received  in  later 
times  through  the  Europeans."1  So  the  Cherokees, 
remarks  an  intelligent  observer,  "  know  nothing  of 
the  Evil  One  and  his  domains,  except  what  they  have 
learned  from  white  men."2  The  term  Great  Spirit 
conveys,  for  instance,  to  the  Chipeway  just  as  much 
the  idea  of  a  bad  as  of  a  good  spirit ;  he  is  unaware 
of  any  distinction  until  it  is  explained  to  him.3  "I 
have  never  been  able  to  discover  from  the  Dakotas 
themselves,"  remarks  the  Eev.  G.  H.  Pond,  who  had 
lived  among  them  as  a  missionary  for  eighteen  years,4 
"  the  least  degree  of  evidence  that  they  divide  the 
gods  into  classes  of  good  and  evil,  and  am  persuaded 
that  those  persons  who  represent  them  as  doing  so, 
do  it  inconsiderately,  and  because  it  is  so  natural  to 
subscribe  to  a  long  cherished  popular  opinion." 

Very  soon  after  coming  in  contact  with  the  whites, 
the-  Indians  caught  the  notion  of  a  bad  and  good 
spirit,  pitted  one  against  the  other  in  eternal  warfare, 
and  engrafted  it  on  their  ancient  traditions.  Writers 
anxious  to  discover  Jewish  or  Christian  analogies, 
forcibly  construed  myths  to  suit  their  pet  theories, 
and  for  indolent  observers  it  was  convenient  to  cata 
logue  their  gods  in  antithetical  classes.  In  Mexican 
and  Peruvian  mythology  this  is  so  plainly  false  that 
historians  no  longer  insist  upon  it,  but  as  a  popular 
error  it  still  holds  its  ground  with  reference  to  the 
more  barbarous  and  less  known  tribes. 

'  Loskiel,  Ges.  der  Miss,  der  evang.  Brueder,  p.  46. 

2  Whipple,    Report  on  the  Ind.  Tribes,  p.  35 :    Washington, 
1855.     Pacific  Railroad  Docs. 

3  Schoolcraft,  Indian  Tribes,  i.  p.  359. 
1  In  Schoolcraft,  Ibid.,  iv.  p.' 642. 


MISUNDERSTOOD  MYTHS.  63 

Perhaps  no  myth,  lias  been  so  often  quoted  in  its 
confirmation  as  that  of  the  ancient  Iroquois,  which 
narrates  the  conflict  between  the  first  two  brothers  of 
our  race.  It  is  of  undoubted  native  origin  and  vene 
rable  antiquity.  The  version  given  by  the  Tuscarora 
chief  Cusic  in  1825,  relates  that  in  the  beginning  of 
things  there  were  two  brothers,  Enigorio  and  Enigo-^ 
hahetgea,  names  literally  meaning  the  Good  Mind: 
and  the  Bad  Mind.1  The  former  went  about  the 
world  furnishing  it  with  gentle  streams,  fertile  plains, 
and  plenteous  fruits,  while  the  latter  maliciously 
followed  him  creating  rapids,  thorns,  and  deserts. 
At  length  the  Good  Mind  turned  upon  his  brother  in 
anger,  and  crushed  him  into  the  earth.  He  sank  out 
of  sight  in  its  depths,  but  not  to  perish,  for  in  the 
dark  realms  of  the  underworld  he  still  lives,  receiv 
ing  the  souls  of  the  dead  and  being  the  author  of  all 
evil.  Now  when  we  compare  this  with  the  version 
of  the  same  legend  given  by  Father  Brebeuf,  mis 
sionary  to  the  Hurons  in  1636,  we  find  its  whole 
complexion  altered ;  the  moral  dualism  vanishes ;  the 
names  Good  Mind  and  Bad  Mind  do  not  appear ;  it 
is  the  struggle  of  loskeha,  the  White  one,  with  his 
brother  Tawiscara,  the  Dark  one,  and  we  at  once 
perceive  that  Christian  influence  in  the  course  of  two 
centuries  had  given  the  tale  a  meaning  foreign  to  its 
original  intent. 

So  it  is  with  the  story  the  Algonkins  tell  of  their 
hero  Manibozho,  who,  in  the  opinion  of  a  well-known 
writer,  "  is  always  placed  in  antagonism  to  a  great 

1  Or  more  exactly,  the  Beautiful  Spirit,  the  Ugly  Spirit.  In 
Onondaga  the  radicals  are  onigonra,  spirit,  Mo  beautiful,  ahetken 
ugly.  Dictionnaire  Fran^ais-Onontayue,  tdiU  par  Jean-Marie 
Shea  :  New  York,  1859. 


64  THE  IDEA  OF  GOD. 

serpent,  a  spirit  of  evil."1  It  is  to  the  effect  that 
after  conquering  many  animals,  this  famous  magician 
tried  his  arts  on  the  prince  of  serpents.  After  a  pro 
longed  struggle,  which  brought  on  the  general  deluge 
and  the  destruction  of  the  world,  he  won  the  victory. 
The  first  authority  we  have  for  this  narrative  is  even 
later  than  Cusic ;  it  is  Mr.  Schoolcraft  in  our  owii 
day ;  the  legendary  cause  of  the  deluge  as  related  by 
Father  Le  Jeune,  in  1634,  is  quite  dissimilar,  and 
makes  no  mention  of  a  serpent ;  and  as  we  shall  here 
after  see,  neither  among  the  Algonkins  nor  any  other 
Indians,  was  the  serpent  usually  a  type  of  evil,  but 
quite  the  reverse.2 

The  comparatively  late  introduction  of  such  views 
into  the  native  legends  finds  a  remarkable  proof  in 
the  myths  of  the  Quiches,  which  were  committed  to 
writing  in  the  seventeenth  century.  They  narrate 
the  struggles  between  the  rulers  of  the  upper  and 
the  nether  world,  the  descent  of  the  former  into 
Xibalba,  the  Eealm  of  Phantoms,  and  their  victory 
over  its  lords,  One  Death  and  Seven  Deaths.  The 
writer  adds  of  the  latter,  who  clearly  represent  to  his 
mind  the  Evil  One  and  his  adjutants,  u  in  the  old 
times  they  did  not  have  much  power ;  they  were  but 
annoyers  and  opposers  of  men,  and  in  truth  they 
were  not  regarded  as  gods.  But  when  they  appeared 
it  was  terrible.  They  were  of  evil,  they  were  owls, 
fomenting  trouble  and  discord."  In  this  passage, 
which,  be  it  said,  seems  to  have  impressed  the  transla 
tors  very  differently,  the  writer  appears  to  compare 

1  Squier,  The  Serpent  Symbol  in  America. 

2  Both  these  legends  will  be  analyzed  in  a  subsequent  chapter, 
and  an  attempt  made  not  only  to  restore  them  their  primitive 
form,  but  to  explain  their  meaning. 


A  MORAL  DUALISM  IMPOSSIBLE.  65 

the  great  power  assigned  by  the  Christian  religion 
to  Satan  and  his  allies,  with  the  very  much  less 
potency  attributed  to  their  analogues  in  heathendom, 
the  rulers  of  the  world  of  the  dead.1 

A  little  reflection  will  convince  the  most  incredu 
lous  that  any  such  dualism  as  has  been  fancied  to 
exist  in  the  native  religions,  could  not  have  been  of 
indigenous  growth.  The  gods  of  the  primitive  man 
are  beings  of  thoroughly  human  physiognomy, 
painted  with  colors  furnished  by  intercourse  with  his 
fellows.  These  are  his  enemies  or  his  friends,  as  he 
conciliates  or  insults  them.  No  mere  man,  least  of 
all  a  savage,  is  kind,  and  benevolent  in  spite  of 
neglect  and  injury,  nor  is  any  man  causelessly  and 
ceaselessly  malicious.  Personal,  family,  or  national 
feuds  render  some  more  inimical  than  others,  but 
always  from  a  desire  to  guard  their  own  interests, 
never  out  of  a  delight  in  evil  for  its  own  sake.  Thus 
the  cruel  gods  of  death,  disease,  and  danger,  were 
never  of  Satanic  nature,  while  the  kindliest  divinities 
were  disposed  to  punish,  and  that  severely,  any 
neglect  of  their  ceremonies.  Moral  dualism  can 
only  arise  in  minds  where  the  ideas  of  good  and  evil 
are  not  synonymous  with  those  of  pleasure  .ancLpain, 
for  the  conception  of  a  wholly  good  or  a  wholly  evil 
nature  requires  the  use  of  these  terms  in  their  higher, 
ethical  sense.  The  various  deities  of  the  Indians,  it 
may  safely  be  said  in  conclusion,  present  no  stronger 
antithesis  in  this  respect  than  those  of  ancient  Greece 
and  Eome. 

1  Compare  the  translation  and  remarks  of  Ximenes,  Or.  de  lot 
Indies  de  Guat.,  p.  76,  with,  those  of  Brasseur,  Le  Livre  Sacre 
des  Quiches,  p.  189. 
5 


CHAPTEE    III. 

THE  SACRED  NUMBER,  ITS  ORIGIN  AND  APPLICATIONS. 

The  number  FOUR  sacred  in  all  American  religions,  and  the  key  to  their 
symbolism. — Derived  from  the  CARDINAL  POINTS. — Appears  constantly 
in  government,  arts,  rites,  and  myths. — The  Cardinal  Points  identified 
with  the  Four  Winds,  who  in  myths  are  the  four  ancestors  of  the 
human  race,  and  the  four  celestial  rivers  watering  the  terrestrial  Para 
dise. — Associations  grouped  around  each  Cardinal  Point. — From  the 
number  four  was  derived  the  symbolic  value  of  the  number  Forty,  and 
the  Sign  of  the  Cross. 

THVEEY  one  familiar  with  the  ancient  religions  of 
•*-*  "the  world  must  have  noticed  the  mystic  power 
they  attach  to  certain  numbers,  and  how  these  num 
bers  became  the  measures  and  formative  quantities, 
as  it  were,  of  traditions  and  ceremonies,  and  had  a 
symbolical  meaning  nowise  connected  with  their 
arithmetical  value.  For  instance,  in  many  eastern 
religions,  that  of  the  Jews  among  the  rest,  seven  was 
the  most  sacred  number,  and  after  it,  four  and  three. 
The  most  cursory  reader  must  have  observed  in  how 
many  connections  the  seven  is  used  in  the  Hebrew 
Scriptures,  occurring,  in  all,  something  over  three 
hundred  and  sixty  times,  it  is  said.  Why  these  num 
bers  were  chosen  rather  than  others  has  not  been 
clearly  explained.  Their  sacred  character  dates  be 
yond  the  earliest  history,  and  must  have  been  coeval 
with  the  first  expressions  of  the  religious  sentiment. 
Only  one  of  them,  the  FOUR,  has  any  prominence  in 


THE  CARDINAL  POINTS.  67 

the  religions  of  the  red  race,  but  this  is  so  marked 
and  so  universal,  that  at  a  very  early  period  in  my 
studies  I  felt  convinced  that  if  the  reason  for  its  adop 
tion  could  be  discovered,  much  of  the  apparent  con 
fusion  which  reigns  among  them  would  be  dispelled. 

Such  a  reason  must  take  its  rise  from  some  essential 
relation  of  man  to  nature,  everywhere  prominent, 
everywhere  the  same.  It  is  found  in  the  adoration 
of  the  cardinal  points. 

The  red  man,  as  I  have  said,  was  a  hunter ;  he  was 
ever  wandering  through  pathless  forests,  coursing 
over  boundless  prairies.  It  seems  to  the  white  race 
not  a  faculty,  but  an  instinct  that  guides  him  so  / 
unerringly.  He  is  never  at  a  loss.  Says  a  writer 
who  has  deeply  studied  his  character:  "The  Indian 
ever  has  the  points  of  the  compass  present  to  his 
mind,  and  expresses  himself  accordingly  in  words, 
although  it  shall  be  of  matters  in  his  own  house."1 

The  assumption  of  precisely  four  cardinal  points  is 
not  of  chance  ;  it  is  recognized  in  every  language ;  it 
is  rendered  essential  by  the  anatomical  structure  of 
the  body ;  it  is  derived  from  the  immutable  laws  of 
the  universe.  "Whether  we  gaze  at  the  sunset  or  the 
sunrise,  or  whether  at  night  we  look  for  guidance  to 
the  only  star  of  the  twinkling  thousands  that  is  con 
stant  to  its  place,  the  anterior  and  posterior  planes  of 
our  bodies,  our  right  hands  and  our  left  coincide  Avith 
the  parallels  and  meridians.  Very  early  in  his  his 
tory  did  man  take  note  of  these  four  points,  and 
recognizing  in  them  his  guides  through  the  night  and  t 

1  Buckingham  Smith,  Gram.  Notices  of  the  Heve  Language,  p. 
26  (Shea's  Lib.  Am.  Ling-uistics). 


G8  THE  SACRED  XUMBER. 

the  wilderness,  call  them  his  gods.  Long  afterwards, 
when  centuries  of  slow  progress  had  taught  him  other 
secrets  of  nature — when  he  had  discerned  in  the  mo 
tions  of  the  sun,  the  elements  of  matter,  and  the 
radicals  of  arithmetic  a  repetition  of  this  number — 
they  were  to  him  further  warrants  of  its  sacredness. 
He  adopted  it  as  a  regulating  quantity  in  his  institu 
tions  and  his  arts ;  he  repeated  it  in  its  multiples  and 
compounds ;  he  imagined  for  it  novel  applications ; 
he  constantly  magnified  its  mystic  meaning ;  and 
finally,  in  his  philosophical  reveries,  he  called  it  the 
key  to  the  secrets  of  the  universe,  "  the  source  of  ever- 
flowing  nature."1 

In  primitive  geography  the  figure  of  the  earth  is  a 
square  plain ;  in  the  legend  of  the  Quiches  it  is 
"  shaped  as  a  square,  divided  into  four  parts,  marked 
with  lines,  measured  with  cords,  and  suspended  from 
the  heavens  by  a  cord  to  its  four  corners  and  its  four 
sides."2  The  earliest  divisions  of  territory  were 
in  conformity  to  this  view.  Thus  it  was  with  an 
cient  Egypt,  Syria,  Mesopotamia,  and  China  ;3  and 

1  I  refer  to  the  four  "  ultimate  elementary  particles"  of  Em- 
pedocles.     The  number  was  sacred  to  Hermes,  and  lay  at  the 
root  of  the  physical  philosophy  of  Pythagoras.     The  quotation  in 
the  text  is  from  the  "  Golden  Verses,"  given  in  Passow's  lexicon 

Under  the  WOrd  rer-ax-ru?  :   vxi  pa.  TOV  a.^.-r^a.  4-uva  rafofcn'TA  TETfaxruv, 

Tray.-.v  asvaov  <j>y<r£<»?.  "The  most  sacred  of  all  tilings,"  said  this 
famous  teacher,  "is  Number;  and  next  to  it,  that  which  gives 
Names  ;"  a  truth  that  the  lapse  of  three  thousand  years  is  just 
enabling  us  to  appreciate. 

2  Ximenes,  Or.  de  los  Indios,  etc.,  p.  5. 

3  See  Sepp,  Ileidenthum  und  dessen  Bedeutung  fur  das  Chris- 
tenthum,  i.  p.  464  sqq.,  a  work  full  of  learning,  but  written  in 
the  wildest  vein  of  Joseph  de  Maistre's  school  of  Romanizing 
mythology. 


IN  ARCHITECTURE  AND  GOVERNMENT.  69 

in  the  new  world,  the  states  of  Peru,  Araucania,  the 
Muyscas,  the  Quiches,  and  Tlascala  were  tetrarchies 
divided  in  accordance  with,  and  in  the  first  two  in 
stances  named  after,  the  cardinal  points.  So  their 
chief  cities — Cnzco,  Quito,  Tezcuco,  Mexico,  Cholu- 
la — were  quartered  by  streets  running  north,  south, 
east,  and  west.  It  was  a  necessary  result  of  such  a 
division  that  the  chief  officers  of  the  government 
were  four  in  number,  that  the  inhabitants  of  town 
and  country,  that  the  whole  social  organization  ac 
quired  a  quadruplicate  form.  The  official  title  of  the 
Incas  was  "  Lord  of  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth," 
and  the  venerable  formality  in  taking  possession  of 
land,  both  in  their  domain  and  that  of  the  Aztecs, 
was  to  throw  a  stone,  to  shoot  an  arrow,  or  to  hurl  a 
firebrand  to  each  of  the  cardinal  points.1  They  car 
ried  out  the  idea  in  their  architecture,  building  their 
palaces  in  squares  with  doors  opening,  their  tombs  with 
their  angles  pointing,  their  great  causeways  running 
in  these  directions.  These  architectural  principles 
repeat  themselves  all  over  the  continent ;  they  recur 
in  the  sacred  structures  of  Yucatan,  in  the  ancient 
cemetery  of  Teo-tihuacan  near  Mexico,  where  the 
tombs  are  arranged  along  avenues  corresponding 
exactly  to  the  parallels  and  meridians  of  the  central 
tumuli  of  the  sun  and  moon  ;2  and  however  ignorant 

1  Brasseur,  Hist,  du  Me.mque,  ii.  p.  227,  Le  Livre  Sacre  des 
Quiches,  introd.  p.  ccxlii.    The  four  provinces  of  Peru  were  Anti, 
Cunti,  Chinclia,  and  Colla.     The  meaning  of  these  names  has 
been  lost,  but  to  repeat  them,  says  La  Vega,  was  the  same  as  to 
use  our  words,  east,  west,  north,  and  south  (Hist,  des  Incas,  lib. 
ii.  cap.  11). 

2  Humbolclt,  Polit.  Essay  on  New  Spain,  ii.  p.  44. 


70 


THE  SACRED  NUMBER. 


we  are  about'  the  mound -builders  of  the  Mississippi 
valley,  we  know  that  they  constructed  their  earth 
works  with  a  constant  regard  to  the  quarters  of  the 
compass. 

Nothing  can  be  more  natural  than  to  take  into  con 
sideration  the  regions  of  the  heavens  in  the  construc- 
'  tion  of  buildings ;  I  presume  that  at  any  time  no  one 
plans  an  edifice  of  pretensions  without  doing  so.  Yet 
this  is  one  of  those  apparently  trifling  transactions 
which  in  their  origin  and  applications  have  exerted  a 
controlling  influence  on  the  history  of  the  human 
\rsice. 

When  we  reflect  how  indissolubly  the  mind  of  the 
primitive  man  is  welded  to  his  superstitions,  it  were 
incredible  that  his  social  life  and  his  architecture 
could  thus  be  as  it  were  in  subjection  to  one  idea, 
and  his  rites  and  myths  escape  its  sway.  As  one 
might  expect,  it  reappears  in  these  latter  more 
vividly  than  anywhere  else.  If  there  is  one  formula 
more  frequently  mentioned  by  travellers  than  another 
as  an  indispensable  preliminary  to  all  serious  busi 
ness,  it  is  that  of  smoking,  and  the  prescribed  and 
traditional  rule  was  that  the  first  puff  should  be  to 
the  sky,  and  then  One  to  each  of  the  corners  of  the 
earth,  or  the  cardinal  points.1  These  were  the  spirits 
who  made  and  governed  the  earth,  and  under  what 
ever  difference  of  guise  the  uncultivated  fanc}^  por 
trayed  them,  they  were  the  leading  figures  in  the 
tales  and  ceremonies  of  nearly  every  tribe  of  the  red 

1  This  custom  has  been  often  mentioned  among  the  Iroquois, 
Algonkins,  Dakotas,  Creeks,  Natchez,  Araucanians,  and  other 
tribes.  Nnttall  points  out  its  recurrence  among  the  Tartars  of 
Siberia  also.  (Travels,  p.  175.) 


IN  MYTH  AND  RITE.  71 

race.  These  were  the  divine  powers  ^ummoned  by 
the  Chipeway  magicians  when  initiating  neophytes 
into  the  mysteries  of  the  meda  craft.  They  were 
asked  to  a  lodge  of  four  poles,  to  four  stones  that  lay 
before  its  fire,  there  to  remain  four  days,  and  attend 
four  feasts.  At  every  step  of  the  proceeding  this 
number  or  its  multiples  were  repeated.1  With  their 
neighbors  the  Dakotas  the  number  was  also  distinctly 
sacred ;  it  was  intimately  inwoven  in  all  their  tales 
concerning  the  wakan  power  and  the  spirits  of  the 
air,  and  their  religious  rites.  The  artist  Catlin  has 
given  a  vivid  description  of  the  great  annual  festival 
of  the  Mandans,  a  Dakota  tribe,  and  brings  forward 
with  emphasis  the  ceaseless  reiteration  of  this  number 
from  first  to  last.2  He  did  not  detect  its  origin  in  the 
veneration  of  the  cardinal  points,  but  the  informa 
tion  that  has  since  been  furnished  of  the  myths  of 
this  stock  leaves  no  doubt  that  such  was  the  case.3 

Proximity  of  place  had  no  part  in  this  similarity 
of  rite.  In  the  grand  commemorative  festival  of  the 
Creeks  called  the  Busk,  which  wiped  out  the  memory 
of  all  crimes  but  murder,  which  reconciled  the  pro 
scribed  criminal  to  his  nation  and  atoned  for  his  guilt, 
when  the  new  fire  was  kindled  and  the  green  corn 
served  up,  every  dance,  every  invocation,  every  cere 
mony,  was  shaped  and  ruled  by  the  application  of  the 

1  Schoolcraft,  Indian  Tribes,  v.  pp.  424  et  seq. 

2  Letters  on  the  North  American  Indians,  vol.  i.,  Letter  22. 

3  Schoolcraft,  Indian  Tribes,  iv.  p.  643  sq.     "Four  is  their 
sacred  number,"  says  Mr.  Pond  (p.  646).     Their  neighbors,  the 
Pawnees,  though  not  the  most  remote  affinity  can  be  detected 
between  their  languages,  coincide  with  them  in  this  sacred  num 
ber,  and  distinctly  identified  it  with  the  cardinal  points.     See  De 
Smet,  Oregon  Missions,  pp.  360,  361. 


72  THE  SA  CRED  X  UMBER. 

number  four  and  its  multiples  in  every  imaginable 
relation.  So  it  was  at  that  solemn  probation  which 
the  youth  must  undergo  to  prove  himself  worthy  of 
the  dignities  of  manhood  and  to  ascertain  his  guardian 
spirit ;  here  again  his  fasts,  his  seclusions,  his  trials, 
were  all  laid  down  in  fourfold  arrangement.1 

Not  alone  among  these  barbarous  tribes  were  the 
cardinal  points  thus  the  foundation  of  the  most 
solemn  mysteries  of  religion.  An  excellent  authority 
relates  that  the  Aztecs  of  Micla,  in  Guatemala,  cele 
brated  their  chief  festival  four  times  a  year,  and  that 
four  priests  solemnized  its  rites.  They  commenced 
by  invoking  and  offering  incense  to  the  sky  and  the 
four  cardinal  points ;  they  conducted  the  human 
victim  four  times  around  the  temple,  then  tore  out 
his  heart,  and  catching  the  blood  in  four  vases  scat 
tered  it  in  the  same  directions.2  So  also  the  Peru 
vians  had  four  principal  festivals  annually,  and  at 
every  new  moon  one  of  four  days'  duration.  In  fact 
the  repetition  of  the  number  in  all  their  religious 
ceremonies  is  so  prominent  that  it  has  been  a  subject 
of  comment  by  historians.  They  have  attributed  it  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  solstices  and  equinoxes,  but 
assuredly  it  is  of  more  ancient  date  than  this.  The 
same  explanation  lias  been  offered  for  its  recurrence 
among  the  Nahuas  of  Mexico,  whose  whole  lives 

1  Benj.  Hawkins,  Sketch   of  the  Creek  Country,  pp.  75,  78: 
Savannah,  1848.     The  description  he  gives  of  the  ceremonies  of 
the  Creeks  was  transcribed  word  for  word  and  published  in  the 
first  volume  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society's  Transactions 
as  of  the  Shawnees  of  Ohio.     This  literary  theft  has  not  before 
been  noticed. 

2  Palacios,  Des.  de  la  Prov.   de   Guatemala,  pp.  31,  32,  ed. 
Ternaux-Compans. 


IN  CEREMONIES  AND  CALENDARS.  73 

were  subjected  to  its  operation.  At  birth  the  mother 
was  held  unclean  for  four  days,  a  fire  was  kindled 
and  kept  burning  for  a  like  length  of  time,  at  the 
baptism  of  the  child  an  arrow  was  shot  to  each  of  tke 
cardinal  points.  Their  prayers  were  offered  four  times 
a  day,  the  greatest  festivals  were  every  fourth  year, 
and  their  offerings  of  blood  were  to  the  four  points 
of  the  compass.  At  death  food  was  placed  on  the 
grave,  as  among  the  Eskimos,  Creeks,  and  Algonkins, 
for  four  days  (for  all  these  nations  supposed  that  the 
journey  to  the  land  of  souls  was  accomplished  in  that 
time),  and  mourning  for  the  dead  was  for  four  months 
or  four  years.1 

It  were  fatiguing  and  unnecessary  to  extend  the 
catalogue  much  further.  Yet  it  is  not  nearly  ex 
hausted.  From  tribes  of  both  continents  and  all 
stages  of  culture,  the  Muyscas  of  Columbia  and  the  Nat 
chez  of  Louisiana,  the  Quiches  of  Guatemala  and  the 
Caribs  of  the  Orinoko,  instance  after  instance  might 
be  marshalled  to  illustrate  how  universally  a  sacred 
character  was  attached  to  this  number,  and  how  uni 
formly  it  is  traceable  to  a  veneration  of  the  cardinal 
points.  It  is  sufficient  that  it  be  displayed  in  some 
of  its  more  unusual  applications. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  calendar  common  to  the 

1  All  familiar  with  Mexican  antiquity  will  recall  many  such 
examples.  I  may  particularly  refer  to  Kingsborough,  Antiqs.  of 
Mexico,  v.  p.  480,  Ternaux-Compans'  Recueil  de  pieces  rel.  a  la 
Conq.  du  Mexique,  pp.  807,  310,  and  Gama,  Des.  de  las  dos  Piedras 
que  se  hollar  on  en  la  plaza  principal  de  Mexico,  ii.  sec.  126 
(Mexico,  1832),  who  gives  numerous  instances  beyond  those  I 
have  cited,  and  directs  with  emphasis  the  attention  of  the  reader 
to  this  constant  repetition. 


74  THE  SACRED  NUMBER. 

Aztecs  and  Mayas  divides  the  month  into  four  weeks, 
each  containing  a  like  number  of  secular  days ;  that 
their  indiction  is  divided  into  four  periods ;  and  that 
they  believed  the  world  had  passed  through  four 
cycles.  It  has  not  been  sufficiently  emphasized  that 
in  many  of  the  picture  writings  these  days  of  the 
week  are  placed  respectively  north,  south,  east,  and 
west,  and  that  in  the  Maya  language  the  quarters  of 
the  indiction  still  bear  the  names  of  the  cardinal 
points,  hinting  the  reason  of  their  adoption.1  This 
cannot  be  fortuitous.  Again,  the  division  of  the  year 
into  four  seasons — a  division  as  devoid  of  founda 
tion  in  nature  as  that  of  the  ancient  Aryans  into  three, 
and  unknown  among  many  tribes,  yet  obtained  in  very 
early  times  among  Algonkins,  Cherokees,  Choctaws, 
Creeks,  Aztecs,  Muyscas,  Peruvians,  and  Arauca- 
nians.  They  were  supposed  to  be  produced  by  the 
unending  struggles  and  varving  fortunes  of  the  four 
aerial  giants  who  rule  the  winds. 

We  must  seek  in  mythology  the  key  to  the  mono 
tonous  repetition  and  the  sanctity  of  this  number; 
and  furthermore,  we  must  seek  it  in  those  natural 
modes  of  expression  of  the  religious  sentiment  which 
are  above  the  power  of  blood  or  circumstance  to  con 
trol.  One  of  these  modes,  we  have  seen,  was  that 
which  led  to  the  identification  of  the  divinity  with 
the  wind,  and  this  it  is  that  solves  the  enigma  in  the 
present  instance.  Universally  the  spirits  of  the  car 
dinal  points  were  imagined  to  be  in  the  winds  that 
blew  from  them.  The  names  of  these  directions  and 

1  Albert  Gallatin,  Trans.  Am.  Etlmol.  Soc.,  ii.  p.  316,  fromtlie 
Codex  Yaticanus,  No.  3738. 


THE  FOUR   WINDS.  75 

of  the  corresponding  winds  are  often  the  same,  and 
when  not,  there  exists  an  intimate  connection  between 
them.  For  example,  take  the  languages  of  the  Mayas, 
Huastecas,  and  Moscos  of  Central  America ;  in  all  of 
them  the  word  for  north  is  synonymous  with  north 
wind,  and  so  on  for  the  other  three  points  of  the  com 
pass.  Or  again,  that  of  the  Dakotas,  and  the  word 
tate-ouye-toba,  translated  "the  four  quarters  of  the 
heavens,"  means  literally,  "  whence  the  four  winds 
come."1  It  were  not  difficult  to  extend  the  list ;  but 
illustrations  are  all  that  is  required.  Let  it  be  remem 
bered  how  closely  the  motions  of  the  air  are  asso 
ciated  in  thought  and  language  with  the  operations 
of  the  soul  and  the  idea  of  God  ;  let  it  further  be  consi 
dered  what  support  this  association  receives  from  the 
power  of  the  winds  on  the  weather,  bringing  as  they 
do  the  lightning  and  the  storm,  the  zephyr  that  cools 
the  brow,  and  the  tornado  that  levels  the  forest ;  how 
they  summon  the  rain  to  fertilize  the  seed  and  refresh 
the  shrivelled  leaves ;  how  they  aid  the  hunter  to 
.stalk  the  game,  and  usher  in  the  varying  seasons; 
how,  indeed,  in  a  hundred  ways,  they  intimately  con 
cern  his  comfort  and  his  life ;  and  it  will  not  seem 
strange  that  they  almost  occupied  the  place  of  all 
other  gods  in  the  mind  of  the  child  of  nature.  Espe 
cially  as  those  who  gave  or  withheld  the  rains  were 
they  objects  of  his  anxious  solicitation.  "Ye  who 
dwell  at  the  four  corners  of  the  earth — at  the  north, 
at  the  south,  at  the  east,  and  at  the  west,"  commenced 
the  Aztec  prayer  to  the  Tlalocs,  gods  of  the  showers.2 

1  Riggs,  Gram,  and  Diet,  of  the  Dakota  Lang.,  s.  v. 

2  Sahagun,  Hist,  de  la  Nueva  Espana,  in  Kingsborougli,  v.  p. 
375. 


76  THE  SACRED  NUMBER. 

For  they,  as  it  were,  hold  the  food,  the  life  of  man 
in  their  power,  garnered  up  on  high,  to  grant  or  deny, 
as  they  see  fit.  It  was  from,  them  that  the  prophet  of 
old  was  directed  to  call  back  the  spirits  of  the  dead 
to  the  dry  bones  of  the  valley.  "  Prophesy  unto  the 
wind,  prophesy,  son  of  man,  and  say  to  the  wind,  thus 
saith  the  Lord  God,  come  forth  from  the  four  winds, 
O  breath,  and  breathe  upon  these  slain,  that  they  may 
live."  (Ezek.  xxxvii.  9.) 

In  the  same  spirit  the  priests  of  the  Eskimos  prayed 
to  Sillam  Innua,  the  Owner  of  the  Winds,  as  the  highest 
existence ;  the  abode  of  the  dead  they  called  Sillam 
Aipane,  the  House  of  the  Winds;  and  in  their  incan 
tations,  when  they  would  summon  a  new  soul  to  the 
sick,  or  order  back  to  its  home  some  troublesome 
spirit,  their  invocations  were  ever  addressed  to  the 
winds  from  the  cardinal  points — to  Fauna  the  East 
and  Sauna  the  West,  to  Kauna  the  South  and  Auna 
the  North.1 

As  the  rain-bringers,  as  the  life-givers,  it  were  no 
far-fetched  metaphor  to  call  them  the  fathers  of  our 
race.  Hardly  a  nation  on  the  continent  but  seems  to 
have  had  some  vague  tradition  of  an  origin  from  four 
brothers,  to  have  at  some  time  been  led  by  four  leaders 
or  princes,  or  in  some  manner  to  have  connected  the 
appearance  and  action  of  four  important  personages 
with  its  earliest  traditional  history.  Sometimes  the 
myth  defines  clearly  these  fabled  characters  as  the 
spirits  of  the  winds,  sometimes  it  clothes  them  in 
uncouth,  grotesque  metaphors,  sometimes  again  it  so 

1  Egede,  Nachrichten  von  Gronland,  pp.  187,  173,  285.  (Ko- 
penhagen,  17DO.) 


THE  FOUR  ANCESTORS.  77 

weaves  them  into  actual  history  that  we  are  at  a  loss 
where  to  draw  the  line  that  divides  fiction  from  truth. 

I  shall  attempt  to  follow  step  by  step  the  growth 
of  this  myth  from  its  simplest  expression,  where  the 
transparent  drapery  makes  no  pretence  to  conceal  its 
true  meaning,  through  the  ever  more  elaborate  narra 
tives,  the  more  strongly  marked  personifications  of 
more  cultivated  nations,  until  it  assumes  the  outlines 
of,  and  has  palmed  itself  upon  the  world  as  actual 
history. 

This  simplest  form  is  that  which  alone  appears 
among  the  Algonkins  and  Dakotas.  They  both 
traced  their  lives  back  to  four  ancestors,  personages 
concerned  in  various  ways  with  the  first  things  of 
time,  not  rightly  distinguished  as  men  or  gods,  but 
very  positively  identified  with  the  four  winds. 
Whether  from  one  or  all  of  these  the  world  was 
peopled,  whether  by  process  of  generation  or  some 
other  more  obscure  way,  the  old  people  had  not  said, 
or  saying,  had  not  agreed.1 

It  is  a  shade  more  complex  when  we  come  to  the 
Creeks.  They  told  of  four  men  who  came  from  the 
four  corners  of  the  earth,  who  brought  them  the 
sacred  fire,  and  pointed  out  the  seven  sacred  plants. 
They  were  called  the  Hi-you-yul-gee.  Having  ren 
dered  them  this  service,  the  kindly  visitors  disap 
peared  in  a  cloud,  returning  whence  they  came. 
When  another  and  more  ancient  legend  informs  us 
that  the  Creeks  were  at  first  divided  into  four  clans, 
and  alleged  a  descent  from  four  female  ancestors,  it 

1  Sclioolcraft,  Algic  Researches,  i.  p.  139,  and  Indian  Tribes, 
iv.  p.  229. 


78  THE  SACRED  NUMBER. 

will  hardly  be  venturing  too  far  to  recognize  in  these 
four  ancestors  the  four  friendly  patrons  from  the 
cardinal  points.1 

The  ancient  inhabitants  of  Haiti,  when  first  dis 
covered  by  the  Spaniards,  had  a  similar  genealogical 
story,  which  Peter  Martyr  relates  with  various 
/  excuses  for  its  silliness  and  exclamations  at  its  ab 
surdity.  Perhaps  the  fault  lay  less  in  its  lack  of 
meaning  than  in  his  want  of  insight.  It  was  to  the 
effect  that  men  lived  in  caves,  and  were  destroyed  by 
the  parching  rays  of  the  sun,  and  were  destitute  of 
means  to  prolong  their  race,  until  they  caught  and 
subjected  to  their  use  four  women  who  were  swift  of 
foot  and  slippery  as  eels.  These  were  the  mothers 
of  the  race  of  men.  Or  again,  it  was  said  that  a 
certain  king  had  a  huge  gourd  which  contained  all 
the  waters  of  the  earth  ;  four  brothers,  who  comino- 

'  "  O 

into  the  world  at  one  birth  had  cost  their  mother  her 
life,  ventured  to  the  gourd  to  fish,  picked  it  up,  but 
frightened  by  the  old  king's  approach,  dropped  it  on 
the  ground,  broke  it  into  fragments,  and  scattered  the 
waters  over  the  earth,  forming  the  seas,  lakes,  and 
rivers,  as  they  now  are.  These  brothers  in  time 
became  the  fathers  of  a  nation,  and  to  them  they 
their  lineage.2  With  the  previous  examples 


1  Hawkins,  Sketch  of  the  Creek  Country,  pp.  81,  82,  and  Blomes, 
Ace.  of  his  Majesty's  Colonies,  p.  156,  London,  1687,  in  Casti- 
glioni,  Viaggi  nelle  Stati  Uniti,  i.  p.  294. 

2  Peter  Martyr,  De  Reb.   Ocean.,  Dec.  i.  lib.  ix.     The  story  is 
also  told  more  at  length  by  the  Brother  Remain  Pane,  in  the 
essay  on  the  ancient  histories  of  the  natives  he  drew  up  by  the 
order  of  Columbus.     It  has  been  reprinted  with  notes  by  the 
Abbe  Brasseur,  Paris,  1864,  p.  438  sqq. 


THE  FOUR  RAIX  BRINGERS  79 

before  our  eyes,  it  asks  no  vivid  fancy  to  see  in  these 
quaternions  once  more  the  four  winds,  the  bringers 
of  rain,  so  swift  and  so  slippery. 

The  Navajos  are  a  rude  tribe  north  of  Mexico. 
Yet  even  they  have  an  allegory  to  the  effect  that 
when  the  first  man  came  up  from  the  ground  under 
the  figure  of  the  moth-worm,  the  four  spirits  of  the 
cardinal  points  were  already  there,  and  hailed  him 
with  the  exclamation,  "  Lo,  he  is  of  our  race."1  It  is 
a  poor  and  feeble  effort  to  tell  the  same  old  story. 

The  Haitians  were  probably  relatives  of  the 
Mayas,  of  Yucatan.  Certainly  the  latter  shared  their 
ancestral  legends,  for  in  an  ancient  manuscript  found 
by  Mr.  Stephens  during  his  travels,  it  appears  they 
looked  back  to  four  parents  or  leaders  'called  the 
Tutul  Xiu.  But,  indeed,  this  was  a  trait  of  all  the 
civilized  nations  of  Central  America  and  Mexico. 
An  author  who  would  be  very  unwilling  to  admit 
any  mythical  interpretation  of  the  coincidence,  has 
adverted  to  it  in  tones  of  astonishment :  "  In  all  the 
Aztec  and  Toltec  histories  there  are  four  characters 
who  constantly  reappear ;  either  as  priests  or  envoys 
of  the  gods,  or  of  hidden  and  disguised  majesty ;  or 
as  guides  and  chieftains  of  tribes  during  their  migra 
tions  ;  or  as  kings  and  rulers  of  monarchies  after  their 
foundation ;  and  even  to  the  time  of  the  conquest,  there 
are  always  four  princes  who  compose  the  supreme 
government,  whether  in  Guatemala,  or  in  Mexico."2 
This  fourfold  division  points  not  to  a  common  his 
tory,  but  to  a  common  nature.  The  ancient  heroes 

1  Schoolcraft,  Ind.  Tribes,  iv.  p.  89. 

2  Brasseur,  Le  Liv.  Sac.,  Introd.,  p.  cxvii. 


80  THE  SACRED  NUMBER. 

and  demigods,  who,  four  in  number,  figure  in  all  these 
antique  traditions,  were  not  men  of  flesh  and  blood, 
but  the  invisible  currents  of  air  who  brought  the 
fertilizing  showers. 

They  corresponded  to  the  four  gods  Bacab,  who  in 
the  Yucatecan  mythology  were  supposed  to  stand  one 
at  each  corner  of  the  world,  supporting,  like  gigantic 
caryatides,  the  overhanging  firmament.  When  at  the 
general  deluge  all  other  gods  and  men  were  swallowed 
by  the  waters  they  alone  escaped  to  people  it  anew. 
These  four,  known  by  the  names  of  Kan,  Muluc,  Ix, 
and  Cauac,  represented  respectively  the  east,  north, 
west,  and  south,  and  as  in  Oriental  symbolism,  so 
here  each  quarter  of  the  compass  was  distinguished 
by  a  color,  the  east  by  yellow,  the  south  by  red, 
the  west  by  black,  and  the  north  by  white.  The 
names  of  these  mysterious  personages,  employed 
somewhat  as  we  do  the  Dominical  letters,  adjusted 
the  calendar  of  the  Mayas,  and  by  their  propitious  or 
portentous  combinations  was  arranged  their  system 
of  judicial  astrology.  They  were  the  gods  of  rain, 
and  under  the  title'Ohac,  the  Eed  Ones,  were  the  chief 
ministers  of  the  highest  power.  As  such  they  were 
represented  in  the  religious  ceremonies  by  four  old 
men,  constant  attendants  on  the  high  priest  in  his 
official  functions.1  In  this  most  civilized  branch  of 

1  Diego  dc  Lancia,  Eel.  de  las  Cosas  de  Yucatan,  pp.  160,  206, 
208,  ed.  Brasseur.  The  learned  editor,  in  a  note  to  p.  208,  states 
erroneously  the  disposition  of  the  colors,  as  may  be  seen  by  com 
paring  the  document  on  p.  395.  This  dedication  of  colors  to  the 
cardinal  points  is  universal  in  Central  Asia.  The  geographical 
names  of  the  Red  Sea,  the  Black  Sea,  the  Yellow  Sea  or  Persian 
Gulf,  and  the  White  Sea  or  the  Mediterranean,  are  derived  from 


QUICHE  LEGEXDS.  81 

the  red  race,  as  everywhere  else,  we  thus  find  four 
mythological  characters  prominent  beyond  all  others, 
giving  a  peculiar  physiognomy  to  the  national 
legends,  arts,  and  sciences,  and  in  them  once  more 
we  recognize  by  signs  infallible,  personifications  of 
the  four  cardinal  points  and  the  four  winds. 

They  rarely  lose  altogether  their  true  character. 
The  Quiche  legends  tell  us  that  the  four  men  who 
were  first  created  by  the  Heart  of  Heaven,  Hura- 
kan,  the  Air  in  Motion,  were  infinitely  keen  of  eye 
and  swift  of  foot,  that  "  they  measured  and  saw  all 
that  exists  at  the  four  corners  and  the  four  angles  of 
the  sky  and  the  earth;"  that  they  did  not  fulfil  the 
design  of  their  maker  "  to  bring  forth  and  produce 
when  the  season  of  harvest  was  near,"  until  he  blew 
into  their  eyes  a  cloud,  "  until  their  faces  were  ob 
scured  as  when  one  breathes  on  a  mirror."  Then  he 
gave  them  as  wives  the  four  mothers  of  our  species, 
whose  names  were  Falling  Water,  Beautiful  Water, 
Water  of  Serpents,  and  Water  of  Birds.1  Truly  he 
who  can  see  aught  but  a  transparent  myth  in  this 
recital,  is  a  realist  that  would  astonish  Euhemerus 
himself. 

There  is  in  these  Aztec  legends  a  quaternion  be 
sides  this  of  the  first  men,  one  that  bears  marks  of  a 
profound  contemplation  on  the  course  of  nature,  one 

this  association.      The  cities  of  China,  many  of  them  at  least, 
have  their  gates  which  open  toward  the  cardinal  points  painted 
of  certain  colors,  and  precisely  these  four,  the  white,  the  black, 
the  red,  and  the  yellow,  are  those  which  in  Oriental  myth  the 
mountain  in  the  centre  of  Paradise  shows  to  the  different  cardi 
nal  points.    (Sepp,  Heidenthum  und  CJiristenthum,  i.  p.  177.) 
The  coincidence  furnishes  food  for  reflection. 
1  Le  Livre  Sucre  des  Quiches,  pp.  203-5,  note. 
6 


82  THE  SACRED  XUMBER. 

that  answers  to  the  former  as  the  heavenly  phase  of 
the  earthly  conception.  It  is  seen  in  the  four  per 
sonages,  or  perhaps  we  should  say  modes  of  action, 
that  make  up  the  one  Supreme  Cause  of  All,  Hura- 
kan,  the  breath,  the  wind,  the  Divine  Spirit.  They 
are  He  who  creates,  He  who  gives  Form,  He  who 
gives  Life,  and  He  who  reproduces.1  This  acute  and 
extraordinary  analysis  of  the  origin  and  laws  of 
organic  life,  clothed  under  the  ancient  belief  in  the 
action  of  the  winds,  reveals  a  depth  of  thought  for 
which  we  were  hardly  prepared,  and  is  perhaps  the 
single  instance  of  anything  like  metaphysics  among 
the  red  race.  It  is  clearly  visible  in  the  earlier  por 
tions  of  the  legends  of  the  Quiches,  and  is  the  more 
surely  of  native  origin  as  it  has  been  quite  lost  on 
both  their  translators. 

Go  where  we  will,  the  same  story  meets  us.  The 
empire  of  the  Incas  was  attributed  in  the  sacred 
chants  of  the  Amautas,  the  priests  assigned  to  take 
charge  of  the  records,  to  four  brothers  and  their 
wives.  These  mythical  civilizers  are  said  to  have 
emerged  from  a  cave  called  Pacari  tampu,  which  may 
mean  "the  House  of  Subsistence,"  reminding  us  of  the 
four  heroes  who  in  Aztec  legend  set  forth  to  people 
the  world  from  Tonacatepec,  the  mountain  of  our 

1  The  analogy  is  remarkable  between  these  and  the  "quatre 
actes  de  la  puissance  generatrice  jusqu'a  1'entier  dcveloppemcnt 
des  corps  organises,"  portrayed  by  four  globes  in  the  Mycenean 
bas-reliefs.  See  Giiigniaut,  Religions  de  V  Antiquite,  i.  p.  374.-  It 
were  easy  to  multiply  the  instances  of  such  parallelism  in  the 
growth  of  religious  thought  in  the  Old  and  New  World,  but  I 
designedly  refrain  from  doing  so.  They  have  already  given  rise 
to  false  theories  enough,  and  moreover  my  purpose  in  this  work  is 
not  "comparative  mythology." 


THE  ANCESTORS  OF  THE  IX CAS.  83 

subsistence ;  or  again  it  may  mean — for  like  many  of 
these  mythical  names  it  seems  to  have  been  design 
edly  chosen  to  bear  a  double  construction — the  Lodg 
ings  of  the  Dawn,  recalling  another  Aztec  legend 
which  points  for  the  birthplace  of  the  race  to  Tula 
in  the  distant  orient.  The  cave  itself  suggests  to  the 
classical  reader  that  of  Eolus,  or  may  be  paralleled 
with  that  in  which  the  Iroquois  fabled  the  winds 
were  imprisoned  by  their  lord.1  These  brothers 
were  of  no  common  kin.  Their  voices  could  shake 
the  earth  and  their  hands  heap  up  mountains.  Like 
the  thunder  god,  they  stood  on  the  hills  and  hurled 
their  sling-stones  to  the  four  corners  of  the  earth. 
When  one  was  overpowered  he  fled  upward  to  the 
heaven  or  was  turned  into  stone,  and  it  was  by  their 
aid  and  counsel  that  the  savages  who  possessed  the 
land  renounced  their  barbarous  habits  and  commenced 
to  till  the  soil.  There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  this 
in  turn  is  but  another  transformation  of  the  Protean 
myth  we  have  so  long  pursued.2 

There  are  traces  of  the  same  legend  among  many 
other  tribes  of  the  continent,  but  the  trustworthy 
reports  we  have  of  them  are  too  scanty  to  permit 
analysis.  Enough  that  they  are  mentioned  in  a  note, 
for  it  is  every  way  likely  that  could  we  resolve  their 
meaning  they  too  would  carry  us  back  to  the  four 
winds.3 

1  Miiller,  Amer.  Urreligionen,  p.  105,  after  Strahllieim,  who  is, 
however,  no  authority. 

2  Miiller,  uU  supra,  pp.  308  sqq.,  gives  a  good  resume  of  the 
different  versions  of  the  myth  of  the  four  brothers  in  Peru. 

3  The  Tupis  of  Brazil  claim  a  descent  from  four  brothers,  three 
of  whose  names  are  given  by  Hans  Staden,  a  prisoner  among 
them  about  1550,  as  Krimen,  Hermittan,  and  Coem  ;  the  latter  he 


84  THE  SACRED  NUMBER. 

Let  no  one  suppose,  however,  that  this  was  the 
only  myth  of  the  origin  of  man.  Far  from  it.  It 
was  but  one  of  many,  for,  as  I  shall  hereafter  attempt 
to  show,  the  laws  that  governed  the  formations  of 
such  myths  not  only  allowed  but  enjoined  great 
divergence  of  form.  Equally  far  was  it  from  being 
the  only  image  which  the  inventive  fancy  hit  upon 
to  express  the  action  of  the  winds  as  the  rain  bringers. 
They  too  were  many,  but  may  all  be  included  in  a 
twofold  division,  either  as  the  winds  were  supposed  to 
flow  in  from  the  corners  of  the  earth  or  outward  from 
its  central  point.  Thus  they  are  spoken  of  under  such 

explains  to  mean  the  morning,  the  east  (le  matin,  printed  by 
mistake  le  mutin,  Relation  de  Hans  Staden  de  Homberg,  p.  274, 
ed.  Ternaux-Compans,  compare  Dias,  Dice,  da  Lingua  Tupy,  p. 
47).  Their  southern  relatives,  the  Guaranis  of  Paraguay,  also 
spoke  of  the  four  brothers  and  gave  two  of  their  names  as  Tupi 
and  Guarani,  respectively  parents  of  the  tribes  called  after  them 
(Guevara,  Hist,  del  Paraguay,  lib.  i.  cap.  ii.,  in  Waitz).  The 
fourfold  division  of  the  Muyscas  of  Bogota  was  traced  back  to 
four  chieftains  created  by  their  hero  god  Nemqueteba  (A.  von 
Humboldt,  Vues  des  Cordilleres,  p.  240).  The  Nahuas  of  Mexico 
much  more  frequently  spoke  of  themselves  as  descendants  of  four 
or  eight  original  families  than  of  seven  (Humboldt,  ibid.,  p.  317, 
and  others  in  Waitz,  Anthropologie,  iv.  pp.  36,  37).  The  Sacs 
or  Sauks  of  the  Upper  Mississippi  supposed  that  two  men  and  two 
women  were  first  created,  and  from  these  four  sprang  all  men 
(Morse,  Rep.  on  Ind.  Affairs,  App.  p.  138).  The  Ottoes,  Paw 
nees,  "and  other  Indians,"  had  a  tradition  that  from  eight  ances 
tors  all  nations  and  races  were  descended  (Id.,  p.  249).  This 
duplication  of  the  number  probably  arose  from  assigning  the  first 
four  men  four  women  as  wives.  The  division  into  clans  or 
totems  which  prevails  in  most  northern  tribes  rests  theoretically 
on  descent  from  different  ancestors.  The  Shawnees  and  Natchez 
were  divided  into  four  such  clans,  the  Choctaws,  Navajos,  and 
Iroquois  into  eight,  thus  proving  that  in  those  tribes  also  the 
myth  I  have  been  discussing  was  recognized. 


THE  CELESTIAL  RIVERS.  85 

figures  as  four  tortoises  at  the  angles  of  the  earthly 
plane  who  vomit  forth  the  rains,1  or  four  gigantic 
caryatides  who  sustain  the  heavens  and  blow  the 
winds  from  their  capacious  lungs,2  or  more  frequently 
as  four  rivers  flowing  from  the  broken  calabash  on 
high,  as  the  Haitians,  draining  the  waters  of  the 
primitive  world,3  as  four  animals  who  bring  from 
heaven  the  maize,4  as  four  messengers  whom  the  god 
of  air  sends  forth,  or  under  a  coarser  trope  as  the 
spittle  he  ejects  toward  the  cardinal  points  which  is 
straightway  transformed  into  Avild  rice,  tobacco,  and 
maize.5 

Constantly  from  the  palace  of  the  lord  of  the 
world,  seated  on  the  high  hill  of  heaven,  blow  four 
winds,  pour  four  streams,  refreshing  and  fecundating 
the  earth.  Therefore,  in  the  myths  of  ancient  Iran 
there  is  mention  of  a  celestial  fountain,  Arduisur,  the 
virgin  daughter  of  Ormuzd,  whence  four  all  nour 
ishing  rivers  roll  their  waves  toward  the  cardinal 
points ;  therefore  the  Thibetans  believe  that  on  the 
sacred  mountain  Himavata  grows  the  tree  of  life 
Zampu,  from  whose  foot  once  more  flow  the  waters 
of  life  in  four  streams  to  the  four  quarters  of  the 
world ;  and  therefore  it  is  that  the  same  tale  is  told 
by  the  Chinese  of  the  mountain  Kouantun,  by  the 
Brahmins  of  Mount  Meru,  and  by  the  Parsees  of 
Mount  Albors  in  the  Caucasus.0  Each  nation  called 


1  Mandans  in  Catlin,  Letts,  and  Notes,  i.  p.  181. 

2  The  Mayas,  Cogolludo,  Hist,  de  Yucathan,  lib.  iv.  cap.  8. 

3  The  Navajos,  Schoolcraft,  Ind.  Tribes,  iv.  p.  89. 
*  The  Quiches,  Ximenes,  Or.  de  los  Indios,  p.  79. 

5  The  Iroqnois,  Miiller,  Amer.  Urreligionen,  p.  109. 

6  For  these  myths  see  Sepp,  Das  Heidenthum  und  dessen  Be- 


86  THE  SACRED  NUMBER. 

their  sacred  mountain  "  the  navel  of  the  earth ;''  for 
not  only  was  it  the  supposed  centre  of  the  habitable 
world,  but  through  it,  as  the  foetus  through  the  um- 
'  bilical  cord,  the  earth  drew  her  increase.  Beyond  all 
other  spots  were  they  accounted  fertile,  scenes  of 
joyous  plaisance,  of  repose,  and  eternal  youth;  there 
rippled  the  waters  of  health,  there  blossomed  the  tree 
of  life ;  they  were  fit  trysting  spots  of  gods  and  men. 
Hence  came  the  tales  of  the  terrestrial  paradise,  the 
rose  garden  of  Feridun,  the  Eden  gardens  of  the 
world.  The  name  shows  the  origin,  for  paradise  (in 
Sanscrit,  para  desa)  means  literally  high  land.  There, 
in  the  unanimous  opinion  of  the  Orient,  dwelt  once 
in  unalloyed  delight  the  first  of  men ;  thence  driven 
by  untoward  fate,  no  more  anywhere  could  they  find 
the  path  thither.  Some  thought  that  in  the  north 
among  the  fortunate  Hyperboreans,  others  that  in  the 
mountains  of  the  moon  where  dwelt  the  long  lived 
Ethiopians,  and  others  again  that  in  the  furthest  east, 
underneath  the  dawn,  was  situate  the  seat  of  pristine 
happiness;  but  many  were  of  opinion  that  some 
where  in  the  western  sea,  beyond  the  pillars  of  Her 
cules  and  the  waters  of  the  Outer  Ocean,  lay  the  gar 
den  of  the  Hesperides,  the  Islands  of  the  Blessed,  the 
earthly  Elysion. 

It  is  not  without  design  that  I  recall  this  early 
dream  of  the  religious  fancy.  When  Christopher 
Columbus,  fired  by  the  hope  of  discovering  this 
terrestrial  paradise,  broke  the  enchantment  of  the 
cloudy  sea  and  found  a  new  world,  it  was  but  to  light 

deutung  fur  das  Christenthum,  i.  p.  Ill  sqq.      The  interpreta 
tion  is  of  course  my  own. 


THE  EARTHLY  PARADISE.  87 

upon  the  same  race  of  men,  deluding  themselves  with 
the  same  hope  of  earthly  joys,  the  same  fiction  of  a 
long  lost  garden  of  their  youth.  They  told  him  that 
still  to  the  west,  amid  the  mountains  of  Paria,  was  a 
spot  whence  flowed  mighty  streams  over  all  lands, 
and  which  in  sooth  was  the  spot  he  sought;1  and 
when  that  baseless  fabric  had  vanished,  there  still 
remained  the  fabled  island  of  Boiuca,  or  Bimini, 
hundreds  of  leagues  north  of  Hispaniola,  whose  glebe 
was  watered  by  a  fountain  of  such  noble  virtue  as 
to  restore  youth  and  vigor  to  the  worn  out  and  the 
aged.2  This  was  no  fiction  of  the  natives  to  rid  them 
selves  of  burdensome  guests.  Long  before  the  white 
man  approached  their  shores,  families  had  started 
from  Cuba,  Yucatan,  and  Honduras  in  search  of  these 
renovating  waters,  and  not  returning,  were  supposed 
by  their  kindred  to  have  been  detained  by  the  de 
lights  of  that  enchanted  land,  and  to  be  revelling  in 
its  seductive  joys,  forgetful  of  former  ties.3 

Perhaps  it  was  but  another  rendering  of  the  same 
belief  that  pointed  to  the  impenetrable  forests  of  the 
Orinoko,  the  ancient  homes  of  the  Caribs  and  Ar- 
owacks,  and  there  located  the  famous  realm  of  El 
Dorado  with  its  imperial  capital  Manoa,  abounding 

1  Peter  Martyr,  De  Reb.    Ocean.,   Dec.  iii.,  lib.  ix.   p.  195: 
Colon,  1574. 

2  Ibid.,  Dec.  iii.,  lib.  x.  p.  202. 

3  Florida  was  also  long  supposed  to  be  the  site  of  this  wondrous 
spring,  and  it  is  notorious  that  both  Juan  Ponce  de  Leon  and  De 
Soto  had  some  lurking  hope  of  discovering  it  in  their  expeditions 
thither.     I  have  examined  the  myth  somewhat  at  length  in  Notes 
on  the  Floridian  Peninsula,  its  Literary  History,  Indian  Tribes, 
and  Antiquities,  pp.  99,  100  :  Philadelphia,  1859. 


THE  SACRED  NUMBER. 

in  precious  metals  and  all  manner  of  gems,  peopled 
by  a  happy  race,  and  governed  by  an  equitable  ruler. 
The  Aztec  priests  never  chanted  more  regretful 
dirges  than  when  they  sang  of  Tulan,  the  cradle  of 
their  race,  where  once  it  dwelt  in  peaceful  indolent 
happiness,  whose  groves  were  filled  with  birds  of 
sweet  voices  and  gay  plumage,  whose  generous  soil 
brought  forth  spontaneously  maize,  cocoa,  aromatic 
gums,  and  fragrant  flowers.  "Land  of  riches  and 
plenty,  where  the  gourds  grow  an  arm's  length  across, 
where  an  ear  of  corn  is  a  load  for  a  stout  man,  and 
its  stalks  are  as  high  as  trees ;  land  where  the  cotton 
ripens  of  its  own  accord  of  all  rich  tints;  land 
abounding  with  limpid  emeralds,  turquoises,  gold, 
and  silver."1  This  land  was  also  called  Tlalocan, 
from  Tlaloc,  the  god  of  rain,  who  there  had  his 
dwelling  place,  and  Tlapallan,  the  land  of  colors,  or 
the  red  land,  for  the  hues  of  the  sky  at  sunrise  floated 
over  it.  Its  inhabitants  were  surnamed  children  of 
the  air,  or  of  Quetzalcoatl,  and  from  its  centre  rose 
the  holy  mountain  Tonacatepec,  the  mountain  of  our 
life  or  subsistence.  Its  supposed  location  was  in  the 
east,  whence  in  that  country  blow  the  winds  that 
bring  mild  rains,  says  Sahagun,  and  that  missionary 
was  himself  asked,  as  coming  from  the  east,  whether 
his  home  was  in  Tlapallan;  more  definitely  by  some 
it  was  situated  among  the  lofty  peaks  on  the  frontiers 
of  Guatemala,  and  all  the  great  rivers  that  water  the 
earth  were  supposed  to  have  their  sources  there.2 
But  here,  as  elsewhere,  its  site  was  not  determined. 

1  Sahagun,  Hist,  de  la  Nueva  Expalia,  lib.  iii.  cap.  iii. 

2  Le  Livre  Sacre  des  Quiches,  Introd.,  p.  clviii. 


THE  EARTHLY  PARADISE.  89 

"  There  is  a  Tulan,"  says  an  ancient  authority, 
"  where  the  sun  rises,  and  there  is  another  in  the  land 
of  shades,  and  another  where  the  sun  reposes,  and 
thence  came  we ;  and  still  another  where  the  sun  re 
poses,  and  there  dwells  God."1 

The  myth  of  the  Quiches  but  changes  the  name  of 
this  pleasant  land.  With  them  it  was  Pan-paxil-pa- 
cayala,  where  the  waters  divide  in  falling,  or  between 
the  waters  parcelled  out  and  mucky.  This  was  "an 
excellent  land,  full  of  pleasant  things,  where  was 
store  of  white  corn  and  yellow  corn,  where  one  could 
not  count  the  fruits,  nor  estimate  the  quantity  of 
honey  and  food."  Over  it  ruled  the  lord  of  the  air, 

1  Memorial  cle  Tecpan  Atitlan,  in  Brasseur,  Hist,  du  Mexique, 
i.  p.  167.  The  derivation  of  Tulan,  or  Tula,  is  extremely  un 
certain.  The  Abbe  Brasseur  sees  in  it  the  ultima  Thule  of  the 
ancient  geographers,  which  suits  his  idea  of  early  American  his 
tory.  Hernando  De  Soto  found  a  village  of  this  name  on  the 
Mississippi,  or  near  it.  But  on  looking  into  Gallatin's  vocabula 
ries,  tulla  turns  out  to  be  the  Choctaw  word  for  stone,  and  as  De 
Soto  was  then  in  the  Choctaw  country,  the  coincidence  is  ex 
plained  at  once.  Buschmann,  who  spells  it  Tollan,  takes  it  from 
tolin,  a  rush,  and  translates,  juncetum,  Ort  der  Binsen.  Ueber 
die  Aztekischen  Orstnamen,  p.  682.  Those  who  have  attempted 
to  make  history  from  these  mythological  fables  have  been  much 
puzzled  about  the  location  of  this  mystic  land.  Humboldt  has 
placed  it  on  the  northwest  coast,  Cabrera  at  Palenque,  Clavigero 
north  of  Anahuac,  etc.  etc.  Aztlan,  literally,  the  White  Land, 
is  another  name  of  wholly  mythical  purport,  which  it  would  be 
equally  vain  to  seek  on  the  terrestrial  globe.  In  the  extract  in 
the  text,  the  word  translated  God  is  Qabavil,  an  old  word  for  the 
highest  god,  either  from  a  root  meaning  to  open,  to  disclose,  or 
from  one  of  similar  form  signifying  to  wonder,  to  marvel ;  lite 
rally,  therefore,  the  Revealer,  or  the  Wondrous  One  (  Vocab.  de 
la  Lengua  Quiche,  p.  209:  Paris,  1862). 


90  THE  SACRED  NUMBER. 

and  from  it  the  four  sacred  animals  carried  the  corn 
to  make  the  flesh  of  men.1 

Once  again,  in  the  legends  of  the  Mixtecas,  we 
hear  the  old  story  repeated  of  the  garden  where  the 
first  two  brothers  dwelt.  It  lay  between  a  meadow 
and  that  lofty  peak  which  supports  the  heavens  and 
the  palaces  of  the  gods.  "  Many  trees  were  there, 
such  as  yield  flowers  and  roses,  very  luscious  fruits, 
divers  herbs,  and  aromatic  spices."  The  names  of 
the  brothers  were  the  Wind  of  Nine  Serpents  and 
the  Wind  of  Nine  Caverns.  The  first  was  as  an 
eagle,  and  flew  aloft  over  the  waters  that  poured 
around  their  enchanted  garden ;  the  second  was  as  a 
serpent  with  wings,  who  proceeded  with  such  velocity 
that  he  pierced  rocks  and  walls.  They  were  too  swift 
to  be  seen  by  the  sharpest  eye,  and  were  one  near  as 
they  passed,  he  was  only  aware  of  a  whisper  and  a 
rustling  like  that  of  the  wind  in  the  leaves.2 

Wherever,  in  short,  the  lust  of  gold  lured  the  early 
adventurers,  they  were  told  of  some  nation  a  little 
further  on,  some  wealthy  and  prosperous  land,  abun 
dant  and  fertile,  satisfying  the  desire  of  the  heart. 
It  was  sometimes  deceit,  and  it  was  sometimes  the 
credited  fiction  of  the  earthly  paradise,  that  in  all 
ages  has  with  a  promise  of  perfect  joy  consoled  the 
aching  heart  of  man. 

It  is  instructive  to  study  the  associations  that  natu- 
rallv  group  themselves  around  each  of  the  cardinal 
points,  and  watch  how  these  are  mirrored  on  the 
surface  of  language,  and  have  directed  the  current  of 

1  Ximenes,  Or.  de  los  Indian,  p.  80,  Le  Livre  Sucre,  p.  195. 

2  Garcia,  Oriyen  de  los  Indios,  lib.  iv.  cap.  4. 


THE  CARDINAL  POINTS.  91 

thought.  Jacob  Grimm  has  performed  this  task  with 
fidelity  and  beauty  as  regards  the  Aryan  race,  but 
the  means  are  wanting  to  apply  his  searching  method 
to  the  indigenous  tongues  of  America.  Enough  if 
in  general  terms  their  mythological  value  be  deter 
mined. 

When  the  day  begins,  man  wakes  from  his  slum 
bers,  faces  the  rising  sun,  and  prays.  The  east  is 
before  him ;  by  it  he  learns  all  other  directions ;  it  is 
to  him  what  the  north  is  to  the  needle ;  with  refe 
rence  to  it  he  assigns  in  his  mind  the  position  of  the 
three  other  cardinal  points.1  There  is  the  starting 
place  of  the  celestial  fires,  the  home  of  the  sun,  the 
womb  of  the  morning.  It  represents  in  space  the 
beginning  of  things  in  time,  and  as  the  bright  and 
glorious  creatures  of  the  sky  come  forth  thence,  man 
conceits  that  his  ancestors  also  in  remote  ages  wan 
dered  from  the  orient ;  there  in  the  opinion  of  many 
in  both  the  old  and  new  world  was  the  cradle  of  the 
race ;  there  in  Aztec  legend  was  the  fabled  land  of 
Tlapallan,  and  the  wind  from  the  east  was  called  the 
wind  of  Paradise,  Tlalocavitl. 

From  this  direction  came,  according  to  the  almost 
unanimous  opinion  of  the  Indian  tribes,  those  hero 
gods  who  taught  them  arts  and  religion,  thither  they 
returned,  and  from  thence  they  would  again  appear 
to  resume  their  ancient  sway.  As  the  dawn  brings 
light,  and  with  light  is  associated  in  every  human  mind 
the  ideas  of  knowledge,  safety,  protection,  majesty, 
divinity,  as  it  dispels  the  spectres  of  night,  as  it 

1  Compare  the  German  expression  sicli  orientiren,  to  right  one 
self  by  the  east,  to  understand  one's  surroundings. 


92  THE  SACRED  NUMBER. 

defines  the  cardinal  points,  and  brings  forth  the  sun 
and  the  day,  it  occupied  the  primitive  mind  to  an  ex 
tent  that  can  hardly  be  magnified  beyond  the  truth. 
It  is  in  fact  the  central  figure  in  most  natural  religions. 

The  west,  as  the  grave  of  the  heavenly  lumina 
ries,  or  rather  as  their  goal  and  place  of  repose, 
brings  with  it  thoughts  of  sleep,  of  death,  of  tran 
quillity,  of  rest  from  labor.  "When  the  evening  of 
his  days  was  come,  when  his  course  was  run,  and  man 
had  sunk  from  sight,  he  was  supposed  to  follow  the 
sun  and  find  some  spot  of  repose  for  his  tired  soul 
in  the  distant  west.  There,  with  general  consent,  the 
tribes  north  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  supposed  the 
happy  hunting  grounds ;  there,  taught  by  the  same 
analogy,  the  ancient  Aryans  placed  the  Nerriti,  the 
exodus,  the  land  of  the  dead.  u  The  old  notion 
among  us,"  said  on  one  occasion  a  distinguished  chief 
of  the  Creek  nation,  "  is  that  when  we  die,  the  spirit 
goes  the  way  the  sun  goes,  to  the  west,  and  there 
joins  its  family  and  friends  who  went  before  it."1 

In  the  northern  hemisphere  the  shadows  fall  to  the 
north,  thence  blow  cold  and  furious  winds,  thence 
come  the  snow  and  early  thunder.  Perhaps  all  its 
primitive  inhabitants,  of  whatever  race,  thought  it 
the  seat  of  the  mighty  gods.2  A  floe  of  ice  in  the 
Arctic  Sea  was  the  home  of  the  guardian  spirit  of  the 
Algonkins  ?  on  a  mountain  near  the  north  star  the 
Dakotas  thought  Hey  oka  dwelt  who  rules  the  seasons  ; 
and  the  realm  of  Mictla,  the  Aztec  god  of  death,  lay 
where  the  shadows  pointed.  From  that  cheerless 

1  Hawkins,  Sketch  of  the  Creek  Country,  p.  80. 

2  See  Jacob  Grimm,  Geschichte  der  Deutschen  Sprache,  p.  681. 

3  De  Smet,  Oregon  Missions,  p.  352. 


NAJILS  OF  THE  CARDINAL  POINTS.  93 

abode  his  sceptre  reached  over  all  creatures,  even  the 
gods  themselves,  for  sooner  or  later  all  must  fall 
before  him.  The  great  spirit  of  the  dead,  said  the 
Ottawas,  lives  in  the  dark  north,1  and  there,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  Monquis  of  California,  resided  their 
chief  god,  Gumongo.^ 

Unfortunately  the  makers  of  vocabularies  have 
rarely  included  the  words  north,  south,  east,  and 
west,  in  their  lists,  and  the  methods  of  expressing 
these  ideas  adopted  by  the  Indians  can  only  be  par 
tially  discovered.  The  east  and  west  were  usually 
called  from  the  rising  and  setting  of  the  sun  as  in  our 
words  orient  and  Occident,  but  occasionally  from 
traditional  notions.  The  Mayas  named  the  west  the 
greater,  the  east  the  lesser  debarkation ;  believing 
that  while  their  culture  hero  Zamna  came  from  the 
east  with  a  few  attendants,  the  mass  of  the  population 
arrived  from  the  opposite  direction.3  The  Aztecs 
spoke  of  the  east  as  "  the  direction  of  Tlalocan,"  the 
terrestrial  paradise.  But  for  north  and  south  there 
were  no  such  natural  appellations,  and  consequently 
the  greatest  diversity  is  exhibited  in  the  plans 
adopted  to  express  them.  The  north  in  the  Caddo 
tongue  is  "the  place  of  cold,"  in  Dakota  "the  situa 
tion  of  the  pines,"  in  Creek  "  the  abode  of  the  (north) 
star,"  in  Algonkin  "  the  home  of  the  soul,"  in  Aztec 
"the  direction  of  Mictla"  the  realm  of  death,  in 
Quiche  and  Quichua,  "  to  the  right  hand  ;"4  while  for 

1  Bressani,  Relation  Abrege,  p.  93. 

2  Yenegas,  Hist,  of  California,  i.  p.  91  :  London,  1759. 

3  Cogolludo,  Hist,  de  Yucathan,  lib.  iv.  cap.  iii. 

1  Alexander  von  Humboldt  has  asserted  that  the  Quiclmas  had 
other  and  very  circumstantial  terms  to  express  the  cardinal  points 
drawn  from  the  positions  of  the  sun  (Amichteri  der  Natur,  ii.  p. 


94  THE  SACRED  NUMBER. 

the  south  we  find  such  terms  as  in  Dakota  "the 
downward  direction,"  in  Algonkin  "  the  place  of 
warmth,"  in  Quiche  "  to  the  left  hand,"  while  among 
the  Eskimos,  who  look  in  this  direction  for  the  sun, 
its  name  implies  "before  one,"  just  as  does  the 
Hebrew  word  Jcedem,  which,  however",  this  more 
southern  tribe  applied  to  the  east. 

We  can  trace  the  sacredness  of  the  number  four  in 
other  curious  and  unlooked-for  developments.  Mul 
tiplied  into  the  number  of  the  fingers — the  arithmetic 
of  every  child  and  ignorant  man — or  by  adding 
together  the  first  four  members  of  its  arithmetical 
series  (4  +  8+124-16),  it  gives  the  number  forty. 
This  was  taken  as  a  limit  to  the  sacred  danoes  of  some 
Indian  tribes,  and  by  others  as  the  highest  number  of 
chants  to  be  employed  in  exorcising  diseases.  Con 
sequently  it  came  to  be  fixed  as  a  limit  in  exercises 
of  preparation  or  purification.  The  females  of  the 
Orinoko  tribes  fasted  forty  days  before  marriage,  and 
those  of  the  upper  Mississippi  were  held  unclean  the 
same  length  of  time  after  childbirth;  such  was  the 
term  of  the  Prince  of  Tezcuco's  fast  when  he  wished 
an  heir  to  his  throne,  and  such  the  number  of  days 
the  Mandans  supposed  it  required  to  wash  clean  the 
world  at  the  deluge.1 

3G8).  But  the  distinguished  naturalist  overlooked  the  literal 
meaning  of  the  phrases  he  quotes  for  north  and  south,  intip  cJiau- 
tuta  chayananpata  and  intip  chaupunchau  chayananpata,  lite 
rally,  the  sun  arriving  toward  the  midnight,  the  sun  arriving 
toward  the  midday.  These  are  evidently  translations  of  the 
Spanish  hacia  la  media  noclie,  hacia  el  medio  dia,  for  they  could 
not  have  originated  among  a  people  under  or  south  of  the  equa 
torial  line. 

1  Catlin,  Letters  and  Notes,  i.,  Letter  22  ;  La  Hontan,  Memoir 'es, 
ii.  p.  151  ;  Gumilla,  Hist,  del  Orinoco,  p.  159. 


THE  SYMBOL  OF  THE  CROSS.  95 

No  one  is  ignorant  how  widely  this  belief  was 
prevalent  in  the  old  world,  nor  how  the  quadrigesi- 
mal  is  still  a  sacred  term  with  some  denominations  of 

Christiaftity. "Rut,  a-more-str iking  parallelism  awaits 

us.  The  symbol  that  beyond  all  others  has  fascinatect 
tne  human  mind,  THE  CKOSS,  finds  here  its  source  and 
meaning.  Scholars  have  pointed  out  its  sacredness 
in  many  natural  religions,  and  have ,  reverently 
accepted  it  as  a  mystery,  or  offered  scores  of  conflict 
ing  and  often  debasing  interpretations.  It  is  but 
another  symbol  of  the  four  cardinal  points,  the  four 
winds  of  heaven.  This  will  luminously  appear  by  a 
study  of  its  use  and  meaning  in  America. 

The  Catholic  missionaries  found  it  was  no  new 
object  of  adoration  to  the  red  race,  and  were  in  doubt 
whether  to  ascribe  the  fact  to  the  pious  labors  of 
Saint  Thomas  or  the  sacrilegious  subtlety  of  Satan. 
It  was  the  central  object  in  the  great  temple  of  Cozu- 
mel,  and  is  still  preserved  on  the  bas-reliefs  of  the 
ruined  city  of  Palenque.  From  time  immemorial  it 
had  received  the  prayers  and  sacrifices  of  the  Aztecs 
and  Toltecs,  and  was  suspended  as  an  august  emblem 
from  the  walls  of  temples  in  Popoyan  and  Cundina- 
iriarca.  In  the  Mexican  tongue  it  bore  the  significant 
and  worthy  name  "  Tree  of  Our  Life,"  or  "  Tree  of 
our  Flesh"  (Tonacaquahuitl).  It  represented  the  god 
of  rains  and  of  health,  and  this  was  everywhere  its 
simple  meaning.  "  Those  of  Yucatan,"  say  the 
chroniclers,  "  prayed  to  the  cross  as  the  god  of  rains 
when  they  needed  water."  The  Aztec  goddess  of  rains 
bore  one  in  her  hand,  and  at  the  feast  celebrated  to 
her  honor  in  the  early  spring  victims  were  nailed  to 
a  cross  and  shot  with  arrows.  Quetzalcoatl,  god  of 


96  THE  SACRED  NUMBER. 

the  winds,  bore  as  his  sign  of  office  "  a  mace  like  the 
cross  of  a  bishop ;"  his  robe  was  covered  with  them 
strown  like  flowers,  and  its  adoration  was  throughout 
connected  with  his  worship.1  When  the  Muyscas 
would  sacrifice  to  the  goddess  of  waters  they  extended 
cords  across  the  tranquil  depths  of  some  lake,  thus 
forming  a  gigantic  cross,  and  at  their  point  of  inter 
section  threw  in  their  offerings  of  gold,  emeralds,  and 
precious  oils.2  The  arms  of  the  cross  were  designed 
to  point  to  the  cardinal  points  and  represent  the  four 
winds,  the  rain  bringers.  To  confirm  this  explana 
tion,  let  us  have  recourse  to  the  simpler  ceremonies 
of  the  less  cultivated  tribes,  and  see  the  transparent 
meaning  of  the  symbol  as  they  employed  it. 

When  the  rain  maker  of  the  Lenni  Lenape  would 
exert  his  power,  he  retired  to  some  secluded  spot  and 
drew  upon  the  earth  the  figure  of  a  cross  (its  arms 
toward  the  cardinal  points?),  placed  upon  it  a  piece 
of  tobacco,  a  gourd,  a  bit  of  some  red  stuff,  and  com 
menced  to  cry  aloud  to  the  spirits  of  the  rains.3  The 
Creeks  at  the  festival  of  the  Busk,  celebrated,  as  we 
have  seen,  to  the  four  winds,  and  according  to  their 
legends  instituted  by  them,  commenced  with  making 

1  On  the  worship  of  the  cross  in  Mexico  and  Yucatan  and  its 
invariable  meaning  as   representing  the  gods  of  rain,  consult 
Ixtlilxochitl,  Hist,  des  Chichimeques,  p.  5 ;  Sahagim,  Hist,  de  la 
Nueva  E*pana,  lib.  i.  cap.  ii. ;  Garcia,  Or.  de  los  Indio*,  lib.  iii. 
cap.  vi.  p.  109 ;  Palacios,  Des.  de  la  Prov.  de  Guatemala,  p.  29 ; 
Cogolludo,  Hist,   de   Yucathan,  lib.  iv.  cap.  ix.  ;  Villagutierre 
Sotomayor,  Hint,  de  el  Itza  y  de  el  Lacandon,  lib.  iii.  cap.  8 ;  and 
many  others  might  be  mentioned. 

2  Rivero  and  Tschudi,  Peruvian  Antiquities*,  p.  1G2,  after  J. 
Acosta. 

3  Loskiel,  Ge<*.  der  J/m.  der  evang.  Brilder,  p.  GO. 


TUB  SYMBOL  OF  THE  CROSS.  97 

the  new  fire.  The  manner  of  this  was  "  to  place  four 
logs  in  the  centre  of  the  square,  end  to  end,  forming 
a  cross,  the  outer  ends  pointing  to  the  cardinal  points ; 
in  the  centre  of  the  cross  the  new  fire  is  made."1 

As  the  emblem  of  the  winds  who  dispense  the  fertil 
izing  showers  it  is  emphatically  the  tree  of  our  life,  our 
subsistence,  and  our  health.  It  never  had  any  other 
meaning  in  America,  and  if,  as  has  been  said,3  the 
tombs  of  the  Mexicans  were  cruciform,  it  was  per 
haps  with  reference  to  a  resurrection  and  a  future  life 
as  portrayed  under  this  symbol,  indicating  that  the 
buried  body  would  rise  by  the  action  of  the  four 
spirits  of  the  world,  as  the  buried  seed  takes  on  a  new 
existence  when  watered  by  the  vernal  showers.  It 
frequently  recurs  in  the  ancient  Egyptian  writings, 
where  it  is  interpreted  life ;  doubtless,  could  we  trace 
the  hieroglyph  to  its  source,  it  would  likewise  prove 
to  be  derived  from  the  four  winds. 

While  thus  recognizingjthe  natural  _origin  of  this 
consecrated  syj3Vboj,jw^^  it  is  based 

on  the  sacredness  of  numbers,  and  this  in  turn  on 

i 

1  Hawkins,  Sketch  of  the  Creek  Country,  p.  75.     Lapham  and 
Pidgeon  mention  that  in  the  State  of  Wisconsin  many  low  mounds 
are  found  in  the  form  of  a  cross  with  the  arms  directed  to  the  car 
dinal  points.     They  contain  no  remains.     Were  they  not  altars 
built  to  the  Four  Winds  ?    In  the  mythology  of  the  Dakotas,  who 
inhabited  that  region,  the  winds  were  always  conceived  as  birds, 
and  for  the  cross  they  have  a  native  name  literally  signifying 
"the  musquito  hawk  spread  out"  (Riggs,  Diet,  of  the  Dakota, 
s.  v.)-     Its  Maya  name  is  vahom  che,  the  tree  erected  or  set  up, 
the  adjective  being  drawn  from  the  military  language  and  im 
plying  as  a  defence  or  protection,  as  the  warrior  lifts  his  lance  or 
shield  (Landa,  Eel.  de  las  Cosas  de  Yucatan,  p.  65). 

2  Squier,  The  Serpent  Symbol  in  America,  p.  98. 

7 


98  THE  SACRED  NUMBER. 

the  structure  and  necessary  relations  of  the  human 
body,  thus  disowning  the  meaningless  mysticism  that 
Joseph  de  Maistre  and  his  disciples  have  advocated,  let 
us  on  the  other  hand  be  equally  on  our  guard  against 
accepting  the  material  facts  which  underlie  these 
beliefs  as  their  deepest  foundation  and  their  exhaus 
tive  explanation.  That  were  but  withered  fruit  for 
our  labors,  and  it  might  well  be  asked,  where  is  here 
the  divine  idea  said  to  be  dimly  prefigured  in  mytho 
logy?  The  universal  belief  in  the  sacredness  of 
numbers  is  an  instinctive  faith  in  an  immortal  truth; 
it  is  a  direct  perception  of  the  soul,  akin  to  that  which 
recognizes  a  God.  The  laws  of  chemical  combina 
tion,  of  the  various  modes  of  motion,  of  all  organic 
growth,  show  that  simple  numerical  relations  govern 
all  the  properties  and  are  inherent  to  the  very  con 
stitution  of  matter ;  more  marvellous  still,  the  most 
recent  and  severe  inductions  of  physicists  show  that 
precisely  those  two  numbers  on  whose  symbolical 
value  much  of  the  edifice  of  ancient  mythology  was 
erected,  the  four  and  the  three,  regulate  the  molecu 
lar  distribution  of  matter  and  preside  over  the  sym 
metrical  development  of  organic  forms.  This  asks  no 
faith,  but  only  knowledge ;  it  is  science,  not  revela 
tion.  In  view  of  such  facts  is  it  presumptuous  to 
predict  that  experiment  itself  will  prove  the  truth  of 
Kepler's  beautiful  saying:  "The  universe  is  a  har 
monious  whole,  the  soul  of  which  is  God  ;  numbers, 
figures,  the  stars,  all  nature,  indeed,  are  in  unison 
with  the  mysteries  of  religion"  ? 


CHAPTEK    IV. 

THE    SYMBOLS    OF    THE    BIRD    AND    THE    SERPENT. 

Relations  of  man  to  the  lower  animals.  —  Twopf  these,  the  BIRD  and  the 
SERPENT,  chosen  as  symbols  beyond  all  others.  —  The  Bird  throughout 
America  the  symbol  of  the  Clouds  and  Winds.  —  Meaning  of  certain 
species.  —  The  symbolic  meaning  of  the  Serpent  derived  from  its  mode 
of  locomotion,  its  poisonous  bite,  and  its  power  of  charming.  —  Usually 
the  symbol  of  the  Lightning  and  the  Waters.  —  The  Rattlesnake 
the  symbolic  species  in  America.  —  The  war  charm.  —  The  Cross  of 
Palenque.  —  The  god  of  riches.  —  Both  symbols  devoid  of  moral  signi 
ficance. 


stories  which,  the  Germans  call  Thierfabeln, 
wherein  the  actors  are  different  kinds  of  brutes, 
seem  to  have  a  particular  relish  for.  children  and  un 
cultivated  nations.  Who  cannot  recall  with  what 
delight  he  nourished  his  childish  fancy  on  the  pranks 
of  Keynard  the  Fox,  or  the  tragic  adventures  of 
Little  Eed  Eiding  Hood  and  the  Wolf?  Every  na 
tion  has  a  congeries  of  such  tales,  and  it  is  curious  to 
mark  how  the  same  animal  reappears  with  the  same 
imputed  physiognomy  in  all  of  them.  The  fox  is 
always  cunning,  the  wolf  ravenous,  the  owl  wise,  and 
the  ass  foolish.  The  question  has  been  raised  whether 
such  traits  were  at  first  actually  ascribed  to  animals, 
or  whether  their  introduction  in  story  was  intended 
merely  as  an  agreeable  figure  of  speech  for  classes  of 
men.  We  cannot  doubt  but  that  the  former  was  the 
case.  Going  back  to  the  dawn  of  civilization,  we 
find  these  relations  not  as  amusing  fictions,  but  as 


100      SYMBOLS  OF  THE  BIRD  AXD  THE  SERPEXT. 

myths,  embodying  religious  tenets,  and  the  brute 
heroes  held  up  as  the  ancestors  of  mankind,  even  as 
rightful  claimants  of  man's  prayers  and  praises. 

Man,  the  paragon  of  animals,  praying  to  the  beast, 
is  a  spectacle  so  humiliating  that,  for  the  sake  of  our 
common  humanity,  we  may  seek  the  explanation  of  it 
least  degrading  to  the  dignity  of  our  race.  We  must 
remember  that  as  a  hunter  the  primitive  man  was  al 
ways  matched  against  the  wild  creatures  of  the  woods, 
so  superior  to  him  in  their  dumb  certainty  of  instinct, 
their  swift  motion,  their  muscular  force,  their  perma 
nent  and  sufficient  clothing.  Their  ways  were  guided 
by  a  wit'  beyond  his  divination,  and  they  gained  a 
living  with  little  toil  or  trouble.  They  did  not  mind 
the  darkness  so  terrible  to  him,  but  through  the  night 
called  one  to  the  other  in  a  tongue  whose  meaning  he 
could  not  fathom,  but  which,  he  doubted  not,  was  as 
full  of  purport  as  his  own.  He  did  not  recognize  in 
himself  those  god-like  qualities  destined  to  endow 
him  with  the  royalty  of  the  world,  while  far  more 
clearly  than  we  do  he  saw  the  sly  and  strange  facul 
ties  of  his  antagonists.  They  were  to  him,  therefore, 
not  inferiors,  but  equals — even  superiors.  He  doubted 
not  that  once  upon  a  time  he  had  possessed  their  in 
stinct,  they  his  language,  but  that  some  necromantic 
spell  had  been  flung  on  them  both  to  keep  them 
asunder.  None  but  a  potent  sorcerer  could  break 
this  charm,  but  such  an  one  could  understand  the 
chants  of  birds  and  the  howls  of  savage  beasts,  and 
on  occasion  transform  himself  into  one  or  another 
animal,  and  course  the  forest,  the  air,  or  the  waters, 
as  he  saw  fit.  Therefore,  it  was  not  the  beast  that  he 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  BIRD  SYMBOL.  101 

worshipped,  but  that  share  of  the  omnipresent  deity 
which  he  thought  he  perceived  under  its  form.1 

Beyond  all  others,  two  subdivisions  of  the  animal 
kingdom  have  so  riveted  the  attention  of  men  by 
their  unusual  powers,  and  enter  so  frequently  into 
the  myths  of  every  nation  of  the  globe,  that  a  right 
understanding  of  their  symbolic  value  is  an  essential 
preliminary  to  the  discussion  of  the  divine  legends. 
They  are  the  BIRD  and  the  SERPENT.  We  shall  not 
go  amiss  if  we  seek  the  reasons  of  their  pre-eminence 
in  the  facility  with  which  their  peculiarities  offered 
sensuous  images  under  which  to  convey  the  idea  of 
divinity,  ever  present  in  the  soul  of  man,  ever  striving 
at  articulate  expression. 

The  bird  has  the  incomprehensible  power  of  flight ; 
it  floats  in  the  atmosphere,  it  rides  on  the  winds,  it 
soars  toward  heaven  where  dwell  the  gods;  its 
plumage  is  stained  with  the  hues  of  the  rainbow  and 
the  sunset;  its  song  was  man's  first  hint  of  music;  it 
spurns  the  clouds  that  impede  his  footsteps,  and  flies 
proudly  over  the  mountains  and  moors  where  he 
toils  wearily  along.  He  sees  no  more  enviable  crea 
ture;  he  conceives  the  gods  and  angels  must  also 
have  wings ;  and  pleases  himself  with  the  fancy  that 
he,  too,  some  day  will  shake  off  this  coil  of  clay, 
and  rise  on  pinions  to  the  heavenly  mansions.  All 
living  beings,  say  the  Eskimos,  have  the  faculty  of 
soul  (tarrdk\  but  especially  the  birds.2  As  messen 
gers  from  the  upper  world  and  interpreters  of  its 

1  That  these  were  the  real  views  entertained  by  the  Indians  in 
regard  to  the  brute  creation,  see  Heckewelder,  Ace.  of  the  Ind. 
Nations,  p.  247 ;  Schoolcraft,  Ind.  Tribes,  iii.  p.  520. 

2  Egede,  Nachrichten  von  Grdnland,  p.  156. 


102      SYMBOLS  OF  THE  BIRD  AND  THE  SERPENT. 


decrees,  the  flight  and  the  note  of  birds  have  ever 
been  anxiously  observed  as  omens  of  grave  import. 
"  There  is  one  bird  especially,"  remarks  the  traveller 
Coreal,  of  the  natives  of  Brazil,  u  which  they  regard 
as  of  good  augury.  Its  mournful  chant  is  heard 
rather  by  night  than  day.  The  savages  say  it  is  sent 
by  their  deceased  friends  to  bring  them  news  from 
the  other  world,  and  to  encourage  them  against  their 
enemies."1  In  Peru  and  in  Mexico  there  was  a 
College  of  Augurs,  corresponding  in  purpose  to  the 
auspices  of  ancient  Eome,  who  practised  no  other 
means  of  divination  than  watching  the  course  and 
professing  to  interpret  the  songs  of  fowls.  So  natural 

'and  so  general  is  such  a  superstition,  and  so  wide 
spread  is  the  respect  it  still  obtains  in  civilized  and 
Christian  lands,  that  it  is  not  worth  while  to  summon 
witnesses  to  show  that  it  prevailed  universally  among 
the  red  race  also.  What  imprinted  it  with  redoubled 

^force  on  their  imagination  was  the  common  belief 
that  birds  were  not  only  divine  nuncios,  but  the 
visible  spirits  of  their  departed  friends.  The  Pow- 
hatans  held  that  a  certain  small  wood  bird  received 
the  souls  of  their  princes  at  death,  and  they  refrained 
religiously  from  doing  it  harm;2  while  the  Aztecs 
and  various  other  nations  thought  that  all  good 
people,  as  a  reward  of  merit,  were  metamorphosed  at 
the  close  of  life  into  feathered  songsters  of  the  grove, 
and  in  this  form  passed  a  certain  term  in  the  um 
brageous  bowers  of  Paradise. 

Bat  the   usual  meaning  of  the  bird  as  a  symbol 

1  Voiage*  aiix  Inden  Oceidcntale*,  pt.  ii.  p.  203  :  Amst.  1722. 

2  Beverly,  Hist,  de  la  Virginie,  liv.  iii.  chap.  viii. 


THE  WINDS  AS  BIRDS.  103 

looks  to  a  different  analogy — to  that  which  appears 
in  such  familiar  expressions  as  "the  wings  of  the 
wind,"  "the  flying  clouds."  Like  the  wind,  the  bird 
sweeps  through  the  aerial  spaces,  sings  in  the  forests, 
and  rustles  on  its  course ;  like  the  cloud,  it  floats  in 
mid-air  and  casts  its  shadow  on  the  earth  ;  like  the 
lightning,  it  darts  from  heaven  to  earth  to  strike  its 
unsuspecting  prey.  These  tropes  were  truths  to 
savage  nations,  and  led  on  by  that  law  of  language 
which  forced  them  to  conceive  everything  as  animate 
or  inanimate,  itself  the  product  of  a  deeper  law  of 
thought  which  urges  us  to  ascribe  life  to  whatever 
has  motion,  they  found  no  animal  so  appropriate  for 
their  purpose  here  as  the  bird.  Therefore  the  Algon- 
kins  say  that  birds  always  make  the  winds,  that  they 
create  the  water  spouts,  and  that  the  clouds  are  the 
spreading  and  agitation  of  their  wings  ;x  the  Nava- 
jos,  that  at  each  cardinal  point  stands  a  white  swan, 
who  is  the  spirit  of  the  blasts  which  blow  from  its 
dwelling ;  and  the  Dakotas,  that  in  the  west  is  the 
house  of  the  "Wakinyan,  the  Flyers,  the  breezes  that 
send  the  storms.  So,  also,  they  frequently  explain 
the  thunder  as  the  sound  of  the  cloud-bird  flapping 
his  wings,  and  the  lightning  as  the  fire  that  flashes 
from  his  tracks,  like  the  sparks  which  the  buffalo 
scatters  when  he  scours  over  a  stony  plain.2  The 

1  Schoolcraft,  Ind.  Tribes,  v.  p.  420. 

2  Mrs.   Eastman,   Legends  of  the  Sioux,  p.  191  :  New  York, 
1849.     This  is  a  trustworthy  and  meritorious  book,  which  can  be 
said  of  very  few  collections  of  Indian  traditions.      They  were 
collected  during  a  residence  of  seven  years  in  our  northwestern 
territories,  and  are  usually  verbally  faithful  to  the  native  narra 
tions. 


104      SYMBOLS  OF  THE  BIRD  AND  THE  SERPENT. 

thunder  cloud  was  also  a  bird  to  the  Caribs,  and  they 
imagined  it  produced  the  lightning  in  true  Carib 
fashion  by  blowing  it  through  a  hollow  reed,  just  as 
they  to  this  day  hurl  their  poisoned  darts.1  Tupis, 
Iroquois,.  Ath^ascas^j^jcertain,  perhaps  all  the 
families_ofjthe_red  race?  were  thfi  anhjar.t  pursued, 
partook  of^this  persuasion.;  among  them  all  it  would 
probably  be  found  that  the  same  figures  of  speech 
were  used  in  comparing  clouds  and  winds  with  the 
feathered  species  as  among  us,  with  however  this 
most  significant  difference,  that  whereas  among  us 
they  are  figures  and  nothing  more,  to  them  they  ex 
pressed  literal  facts. 

How  important  a  symbol  did  they  thus  become ! 
For  the  winds,  the  clouds,  producing  the  thunder 
and  the  changes  that  take  place  in  the  ever-shifting 
panorama  of  the  sky,  the  rain  bringers,  lords  of  the 
seasons,  and  not  this  only,  but  the  primary  type  of 
the  soul,  the  life,  the  breath  of  man  and  the  world, 
these  in  their  role  in  mythology  are  second  to  nothing. 
Therefore  as  the  symbol  of  these  august  powers, 
as  messenger  of  the  gods,  and  as  the  embodiment  of 
departed  spirits,  no  one  will  be  surprised  if  they  find 
the  bird  figure  most  prominently  in  the  myths  of  the 
red  race. 

Sometimes  some  particular  species  seems  to  have 
been  chosen  as  most  befitting  these  dignified  attri 
butes.  No  citizen  of  the  United  States  will  be 
apt  to  assert  that  their  instinct  led  the  indigenes  of 
our  territory  astray  when  they  chose  with  nigh 
unanimous  consent  the  great  American  eagle  as  that 

1  MtUler,  Amer.  Urreligionen,  p.  222,  after  De  la  Borde. 


THE  EAGLE  AND  THE  OWL.  105 

fowl  beyond  all  others  proper  to  typify  the  supreme 
control  and  the  most  admirable  qualities.  Its  feathers 
composed  the  war  flag  of  the  Creeks,  and  its  images 
carved  in  wood  or  its  stuffed  skin  surmounted  their 
council  lodges  (Bartram) ;  none  but  an  approved 
warrior  dare  wear  it  among  the  Cherokees  (Timber- 
lake)  ;  and  the  Dakotas  allowed  such  an  honor  only 
to  him  who  had  first  touched  the  corpse  of  the  com 
mon  foe  (De  Smet).  The  Natchez  and  Akanzas  seem 
to  have  paid  it  even  religious  honors,  and  to  have 
installed  it  in  their  .  most  sacred  shrines  (Sieur  de 
Tonty,  Du  Pratz);  and  very  clearly  it  was  not  so 
much  for  ornament  as  for  a  mark  of  dignity  and  a 
recognized  sign  of  worth  that  its  plumes  were  so 
highly  prized.  The  natives  of  Zuni,  in  New  Mexico, 
employed  four  of  its  feathers  to  represent  the  four 
winds  in  their  invocations  for  rain  (Whipple),  and 
probably  it  was  the  eagle  which  a  tribe  in  Upper 
California  (the  Acagchemem)  worshipped  under  the 
name  Panes.  Father  Geronimo  Boscana  describes  it 
as  a  species  of  vulture,  and  relates  that  one  of  them 
was  immolated  yearly,  with  solemn  ceremony,  in  the 
temple  of  each  village.  Not  a  drop  of  blood  was 
spilled,  and  the  body  burned.  Yet  with  an  amount 
of  faith  that  staggered  even  the  Eomanist,  the  natives 
maintained  and  believed  that  it  was  the  same  indi 
vidual  bird  they  sacrificed  each  year  ;  more  than  this, 
that  the  same  bird  was  slain  by  each  of  the  villages!1' 
The  owl  was  regarded  by  Aztecs,  Quiches,  Mayas, 

1  Ace.  of  the  Inds.  of  California,  ch.  ix.  Eng.  trans,  by  Kobin- 
son  :  New  York,  1847.  The  Acagchemem  were  a  branch  of  the 
Netela  tribe,  who  dwelt  near  the  mission  San  Juan  Capistrauo 
(see  Buschmann,  Spuren  der  Aztek.  Sprache,  etc.,  p.  548). 


106      SYMBOLS  OF  THE  BIRD  AND  THE  SERPEXT. 

Peruvians,  Araucanians,  and  Algonkins  as  sacred  to 
the  lord  of  the  dead.  "The  Owl"  was  one  of  the 
names  of  the  Mexican  Pluto,  whose  realm  was  in 
the  north,1  and  the  wind  from  that  quarter  was  sup 
posed  by  the  Chipeways  to  be  made  by  the  owl  as 
the  south  by  the  butterfly.2  As  the  bird  of  night,  it 
was  the  fit  emissary  of  him  who  rules  the  darkness 
of  the  grave.  Something  in  the  looks  of  the  crea 
ture  as  it  sapiently  stares  and  blinks  in  the  light,  or 
perhaps  that  it  works  while  others  sleep,  got  for  it 
the  character  of  wisdom.  So  the  Creek  priests  carried 
with  them  as  the  badge  of  their  learned  profession 
the  stuffed  skin  of  one  of  these  birds,  thus  modestly 
hinting  their  erudite  turn  of  mind,3  and  the  culture 
hero  of  the  Monquis  of  California  was  represented, 
like  Pallas  Athene,  having  one  as  his  inseparable 
companion  (Venegas). 

As  the  associate  of  the  god  of  light  and  air,  and  as 
the  antithesis  therefore  of  the  owl,  the  Aztecs  reve 
renced  a  bird  called  quetzal,  which  I  believe  is  a 
species  of  parroquet.  Its  plumage  is  of  a  bright 
green  hue,  arid  was  prized  extravagantly  as  a  decora 
tion.  It  was  one  of  the  symbols  and  part  of  the 

1  Called  in  the  Aztec  tongue  Tecolotl,  night  owl ;  literally,  the 
stone  scorpion.     The  transfer  was  mythological.     The  Christians 
prefixed  to  this  word  tlaca,  man,  and  thus  formed  a  name  for 
Satan,  which  Prescott  and  others  have  translated  "rational  owl." 
No  such  deity  existed  in  ancient  Anahuac  (see  Buschmann,  Die 
Voelker  und  Sprachen  Neu  Mexico's,  p.  262). 

2  Schoolcraft,  Ind.  Tribes,  v.  p.  420. 

3  William   Bartram,    Travels,    p.   504.     Columbus  found  the 
natives   of  the  Antilles  wearing  tunics  with    figures   of  these 
birds  embroidered  upon  them.     Prescott,  Cong,  of  Mexico,  i.  p. 
58,  note'. 


THE  SERPENT  AND  THE  DOVE.  107 

name  of  Quetzalcoatl,  their  mythical  civilizer,  and 
the  prince  of  all  sorts  of  singing  birds,  myriads  of 
whom  were  fabled  to  accompany  him  on  his  journeys. 

The  tender  and  hallowed  associations  that  have  so 
widely  shielded  the  dove  from  harm,  which  for 
instance  Xenophon  mentions  among  the  ancient  Per 
sians,  were  not  altogether  unknown  to  the  tribes  of 
the  New  World.  Neither  the  Hurons  nor  Mandans 
would  kill  them,  for  they  believed  they  were  inha 
bited  by  the  souls  of  the  departed,1  and  it  is  said,  but 
on  less  satisfactory  authority,  that  they  enjoyed  simi 
lar  immunity  among  the  Mexicans.  Their  soft  and 
plaintive  note  and  sober  russet  hue  widely  enlisted 
the  sympathy  of  man,  and  linked  them  with  his  more 
tender  feelings. 

"  As  wise  as  the  serpent,  as  harmless  as  the  dove," 
is  an  antithesis  that  might  pass  current  in  any  human 
language.  They  are  the  emblems  of  complementary, 
often  contrasted  qualities.  Of  all  animals,  the  ser 
pent  is  the  most  mysterious.  No  wonder  it  possessed 
the  fancy  of  the  observant  child  of  nature.  Alone 
of  creatures  it  swiftly  progresses  without  feet,  fins, 
or  wings.  "  There  be  three  things  which  are  too 
wonderful  for  me,  yea,  four  which  I  know  not,"  said 
wise  King  Solomon  ;  and  the  chief  of  them  were, 
"  the  way  of  an  eagle  in  the  air,  the  way  of  a  serpent 
upon  a  rock." 

Its  sinuous  course  is  like  to  nothing  so  much  as 
that  of  a  winding  river,  which  therefore  we  often 
call  serpentine.  So  did  the  Indians.  Kennebec,  a 

1  Eel.  de  la  Nonv.  France,  An  1636,  cli.  ix.  Catlin,  Letters 
and  Notes,  Lett.  22. 


108      SYMBOLS  OF  THE  BIRD  AXD  THE  SERF  EXT. 

stream  in  Maine,  in  the  Algonkin  means  snake,  and 
Antietam,  the  creek  in  Maryland  of  tragic  celebrity, 
in  an  Iroquois  dialect  has  the  same  significance. 
How  easily  would  savages,  construing  the  figure  lite 
rally,  make  the  serpent  a  river  or  water  god  !  Many 
species  being  amphibious  would  confirm  the  idea. 
A  lake  watered  by  innumerable  tortuous  rills  wrig 
gling  into  it,  is  well  calculated  for  the  fabled  abode 
of  the  king  of  .the  snakes.  Thus  doubtless  it  hap 
pened  that  both  Algonkins  and  Iroquois  had  a  myth 
that  in  the  great  lakes  dwelt  a  monster  serpent,  of 
irascible  temper,  who  unless  appeased  by  meet  offer 
ings  raised  a  tempest  or  broke  the  ice  beneath  the 
feet  of  those  venturing  on  his  domain,  and  swallowed 
them  down.1 

The  rattlesnake  was  the  species  almost  exclusively 
honored  by  the  red  race.  It  is  slow  to  attack,  but 
venomous  in  the  extreme,  and  possesses  the  power  of 
the  basilisk  to  attract  within  reach  of  its  spring  small 
birds  and  squirrels.  Probably  this  much  talked  of 
fascination  is  nothing  more  than  by  its  presence  near 
their  nests  to  incite  them  to  attack,  and  to  hazard 
near  and  nearer  approaches  to  their  enemy  in  hope 
to  force  him  to  retreat,  until  once  within  the  compass 
of  his  fell  swoop  they  fall  victims  to  their  temerity. 
I  have  often  watched  a  cat  act  thus.  Whatever  ex 
planation  may  be  received,  the  fact  cannot  be  ques 
tioned,  and  is  ever  attributed  by  the  unreflecting,  to 
some  diabolic  spell  cast  upon  them  by  the  animal. 

1  Eel.  de  la  Nouv.  France,  An  1G48,  p.  75 ;  Cusic,  Trad.  Hist, 
of  the  Six  Nations,  pt.  iii.  The  latter  is  the  work  of  a  native 
Tuscarora  chief.  It  is  republished  in  Schoolcraft's  Indian  Tribes, 
but  is  of  little  value. 


THE  RATTLESNAKE.  109 

They  have  the  same  strange  susceptibility  to  the 
influence  of  certain  sounds  as  the  vipers,  in  which 
lies  the  secret  of  snake  charming.  Most  of  the  In 
dian  magicians  were  familiar  with  this  singularity. 
They  employed  it  with  telling  effect  to  put  beyond 
question  their  intercourse  with  the  unseen  powers, 
and  to  vindicate  the  potency  of  their  own  guardian 
spirits  who  thus  enabled  them  to  handle  with  im 
punity  the  most  venomous  of  reptiles.1  The  well- 
known  antipathy  of  these  serpents  to  certain  plants, 
for  instance  the  hazel,  which  bound  around  the 
ankles  is  an  efficient  protection  against  their  attacks, 
and  perhaps  some  antidote  to  their  poison  used  by 
the  magicians,  led  to  their  frequent  introduction  in 
religious  ceremonies.  Such  exhibitions  must  have 
made  a  profound  impression  on  the  spectators,  and 
redounded  in  a  corresponding  degree  to  the  glory  of 
the  performer.  u  Who  is  a  manito  ?"  asks  the  mystic 
meda  chant  of  the  Algonkins.  "  He,"  is  the  reply, 
"  he  who  walketh  with  a  serpent,  walking  on  the 
ground,  he  is  a  manito."2  And  the  intimate  alliance 
of  this  svmbol  with  the  most  sacred  mysteries  of  re- 

1  For  example,  in  Brazil,  Muller,  Amer.    Urrelig.,  p.  277;  in 
Yucatan,  Cogolludo,  Hist,  de  Yucathan,  lib.  iv.  cap.  4 ;  among 
the  western  Algonkins,  Hennepin,  Decouverte  dans  VAmer.  Sep- 
ten.  chap.  33.     Dr.  Hammond  has  expressed  the  opinion  that  the 
North  American   Indians  enjoy  the  same  immunity  from  the 
virus  of  the  rattlesnake,  that  certain  African  tribes  do  from  some 
vegetable  poisons  (Hygiene,  p.  73).     But  his  observation  must  be 
at  fault,  for  many  travellers  mention  the  dread  these  serpents 
inspired,  and  the  frequency  of  death  from  their  bites,  e.  g.  JRel. 
Noun.  France,  1667,  p.  22. 

2  Narrative  of  the  Captivity  and  Adventures  of  John  Tanner, 
p.  356. 


110      SYMBOLS  OF  THE  BIRD  AXD  THE  SERPENT. 

ligion,  the  darkest  riddles  of  the  Unknown,  is  re 
flected  in  their  language,  and  also  in  that  of  their 
neighbors  the  Dakotas,  in  both  of  which  the  same 
words  manita,  wakan,  which  express  divinity  in  its 
broadest  sense,  are  also  used  as  generic  terms  signify 
ing  this  species  of  animals !  This  strange  fact  is  not 
without  a  parallel,  for  in  both  Arabic  and  Hebrew, 
the  word  for  serpent  has  many  derivatives,  meaning 
to  have  intercourse  with  demoniac  powers,  to  practise 
magic,  and  to  consult  familiar  spirits.1 

The  pious  founder  of  the  Moravian  brotherhood, 
the  Count  of  Zinzendorf,  owed  his  life  on  one  occasion 
to  this  deeply  rooted  superstition.  He  was  visiting 
a  missionary  station  among  the  Shawnees,  in  the 
Wyoming  valley.  Eecent  quarrels  with  the  whites 
had  unusually  irritated  this  unruly  folk,  and  they  re 
solved  to  make  him  their  first  victim.  After  he  had 
retired  to  his  secluded  hut,  several  of  their  braves 
crept  upon  him,  and  cautiously  lifting  the  corner  of 
the  lodge,  peered  in.  The  venerable  man  was  seated 
before  a  little  fire,  a  volume  of  the  Scriptures  on  his 
knees,  lost  in  the  perusal  of  the  sacred  words.  While 
they  gazed,  a  huge  rattlesnake,  unnoticed  by  him, 
trailed  across  his  feet,  and  rolled  itself  into  a  coil  in 
the  comfortable  warmth  of  the  fire.  Immediately 
the  would-be  murderers  forsook  their  purpose  and 

1  See  Gallatin's  vocabularies  in  the  second  volume  of  the 
Trans.  Am.  Antiq.  Soc.  under  the  word  Snake.  In  Arabic  dzann 
is  serpent ;  dzanan  a  spirit,  a  soul,  or  the  heart.  So  in  Hebrew 
nachas,  serpent,  has  many  derivatives  signifying  to  hold  inter 
course  with  demons,  to  conjure,  a  magician,  etc.  See  Noldeke  in 
the  Zeitschrift  fur  Voelkerpsychologie  und  Sprachwissenschaft, 
i.  p.  413. 


THE  SYMBOLS  OF  LIFE  AND  TIME.  Ill 

noiselessly  retired,  convinced  that  this  was  indeed  a 
man  of  God. 

A  more  unique  trait  than  any  of  these  is  its  habit 
of  casting  its  skin  every  spring,  thus  as  it  were  re 
newing  its  life.  In  temperate  latitudes  the  rattle 
snake,  like  the  leaves  and  flowers,  retires  from  sight 
during  the  cold  season,  and  at  the  return  of  kindly 
warmth  puts  on  a  new  and  brilliant  coat.  Its  cast-off 
skin  was  carefully  collected  by  the  savages  and  stored 
in  the  medicine  bag  as  possessing  remedial  powers  of 
high  excellence.  Itself  thus  immortal,  they  thought 
it  could  impart  its  vitality  to  them.  So  when  the 
mother  was  travailing  in  sore  pain,  and  the  danger 
neared  that  the  child  would  be  born  silent,  the 
attending  women  hastened  to  catch  some  serpent  and 
give  her  its  blood  to  drink.1 

It  is  well  known  that  in  ancient  art  this  animal  was 
the  symbol  of  ^Esculapius,  and  to  this  day,  Professor 
Agassiz  found  that  the  Maues  Indians,  who  live 
between  the  upper  Tapajos  and  Madeira  Eivers  in 
Brazil,  whenever  they  assign  a  form  to  any  "  reme- 
dio,"  give  it  that  of  a  serpent.2 

Probably  this  notion  that  it  was  annually  rejuven 
ated  led  to  its  adoption  as  a  symbol  of  Time  among 
the  Aztecs;  or,  perchance,  as  they  reckoned  by  suns, 
and  the  figure  of  the  sun,  a  circle,  corresponds  to 
nothing  animate  but  a  serpent  with  its  tail  in  its 
mouth,  eating  itself,  as  it  were,  this  may  have  been 
its  origin.  Either  of  them  is  more  likely  than  that 
the  symbol  arose  from  the  recondite  reflection  that 

1  Alexander  Henry,  Travels,  p.  117. 

2  Bo st.  Ned.  and  Surg.  Journal,  vol.  76,  p.  21. 


112      SYMBOLS  OF  THE  BIRD  AND  THE  SERPENT. 

time  is  "  never  ending,  still  beginning,  still  creating, 
still  destroying,"  as  has  been  suggested. 

Only,  however,  within  the  last  few  years  has  the 
significance  of  the  serpent  symbol  in  its  length  and 
breadth  been  satisfactorily  explained,  and  its  frequent 
recurrence  accounted  for.  By  a  searching  analysis  of 
Greek  and  German  mythology,  Dr.  Schwarz,  of  Ber 
lin,  has  shown  that  the  meaning  which  is  paramount 
to  all  others  in  this  emblem  is  the  lightning ;  a  mean 
ing  drawn  from  the  close  analogy  which  the  serpent  in 
its  motion,  its  quick  spring,  and  mortal  bite,  has  to 
the  zigzag  course,  the  rapid  flash,  and  sudden  stroke 
of  the  electric  discharge.  He  even  goes  so  far  as  to 
imagine  that  by  this  resemblance  the  serpent  first 
acquired  the  veneration  of  men.  But  this  is  an  ex 
travagance  not  supported  by  more  thorough  research. 
He  has  further  shown  with  great  aptness  of  illustra 
tion  how,  by  its  dread  effects,  the  lightning,  the 
heavenly  serpent,  became  the  god  of  terror  and  the 
opponent  of  such  heroes  as  Beowulf,  St.  George, 
Thor,  Perseus,  and  others,  mythical  representations 
of  the  fearful  war  of  the  elements  in  the  thunder 
storm ;  how  from  its  connection  with  the  advancing 
summer  and  fertilizing  showers  it  bore  the  opposite 
character  of  the  deity  of  fruitfulness,  riches,  and 
plenty ;  how,  as  occasionally  kindling  the  woods 
where  it  strikes,  it  was  associated  with  the  myths  of 
the  descent  of  fire  from  heaven,  and  as  in  popular 
imagination  where  it  falls  it  scatters  the  thunderbolts 
in  all  directions,  the  flint-stones  which  flash  when 
struck  were  supposed  to  be  these  fragments,  and  gave 
rise  to  the  stone  worship  so  frequent  in  the  old  world; 
and  how,  finally,  the  prevalent  myth  of  a  king  of 


THE  LIGHTNING  SERPENT.  113 

serpents  crowned  with  a  glittering  stone  or  wearing  a 
horn  is  bat  another  type  of  the  lightning.1  Without 
accepting  unreservedly  all  these  conclusions,  T  shall 
show  how  correct  they  are  in  the  main  when  applied 
to  the  nryths  of  the  New  World,  and  thereby  illus 
trate  how  the  red  race  is  of  one  blood  and  one  faith 
with  our  own  remote  ancestors  in  heathen  Europe 
and  Central  Asia. 

It  asks  no  elaborate  effort  of  the  imagination  to 
liken  the  lightning  to  a  serpent.  It  does  not  require 
any  remarkable  acuteness  to  guess  the  conundrum  of 
Schiller: — 

"  Unter  alien  Schlangen  1st  eine 

Auf  Erden  nicht  gezeugt, 
Mit  der  an  Schnelle  kerne, 

An  Wuth  sich  keine  vergleicht." 

When  Father  Buteux  was  a  missionary  among  the 
Algonkins,  in  1637,  he  asked  them  their  opinion  of 
the  nature  of  lightning.  "  It  is  an  immense  serpent," 
they  replied,  "  which  the  Manito  is  vomiting  forth  ; 
you  can  see  the  twists  and  folds  that  he  leaves  on  the 
trees  which  he  strikes ;  and  underneath  such  trees  we 
have  often  found  huge  snakes."  "  Here  is  a  novel 
philosophy  for  you !"  exclaims  the  Father.2  So  the 
Shawnees  called  the  thunder  "  the  hissing  of  the  great 
snake  ;"3  and  Tlaloc,  the  Toltec  thunder  god,  held  in 

1  Schwarz,  Der  Ursprung  der  Mythologie  dargelegt  an  Griecli- 
ischer  und  Deutscher  Sage :  Berlin,  1860,  passim. 

2  Rel.  de  la  Nouv.  France :  An  1637,  p.  53. 

3  Sagen  der  Nord-Amer.  Indianer,  p.  21.     This  is  a  German 
translation  of  part  of  Jones's  Legends  of  the  N.  Am.  Inds.  : 
London,  1820.      Their  value  as  mythological  material  is  very 
small. 

8 


114      SYMBOLS  OF  THE  BIRD  AND  THE  SERPENT. 

his  hand  a  serpent  of  gold  to  represent  the  lightning.1 
For  this  reason  the  Caribs  spoke  of  the  god  of  the 
thunder  storm  as  a  great  serpent  dwelling  in  the  fruit 
forests,2  and  in  the  Quiche  legends  other  names  for 
Hurakan,  the  hurricane  or  thunder-storm,  are  the 
Strong  Serpent,  He  who  hurls  below,  referring  to  the 
lightning.3 

Among  the  Hurons,  in  1648,  the  Jesuits  found  a 
legend  current  that  there  existed  somewhere  a  mon 
ster  serpent  called  Onniont,  who  wore  on  his  head  a 
horn  that  pierced  rocks,  trees,  hills,  in  short  every 
thing  he  encountered.  Whoever  could  get  a  piece  of 
this  horn  was  a  fortunate  man,  for  it  was  a  sovereign 
charm  and  bringer  of  good  luck.  The  Hurons  con 
fessed  that  none  of  them  had  had  the  good  hap  to 
find  the  monster  and  break  his  horn,  nor  indeed  had 
they  any  idea  of  his  whereabouts ;  but  their  neigh 
bors,  the  Algonkins,  furnished  them  at  times  small 
fragments  for  a  large  consideration.4  Clearly  the 
myth  had  been  taught  them  for  venal  purposes  by 
(  their  trafficking  visitors.  Now  among  the  Algon- 
,)  kins,  the  Shawnee  tribe  did  more  than  all  others 
combined  to  introduce  and  carry  about  religious 
legends  and  ceremonies.  From  the  earliest  times 
they  seem  to  have  had  peculiar  aptitude  for  the 
ecstasies,  deceits,  and  fancies  that  made  up  the 
spiritual  life  of  their  associates.  Their  constantly 
roving  life  brought  them  in  contact  with  the  myths 
of  many  nations.  And  it  is  extremely  probable  that 

1  Torquemada,  Monarquia  Indiana,  lib.  vi.  cap.  37. 

2  Miiller,  Amer.  Urrelig.,  221,  after  De  la  Borde. 

3  Le  Livre  Sacre  des  Quiches,  p.  3. 

4  Eel.  de  la  Nouv.  France,  1648,  p.  75. 


THE  SEE  PENT  KING.  1 1 5 

they  first  brought  the  tale  of  the  horned  serpent  from 
the  Creeks  and  Cherokees.  It  figured  extensively 
in  the  legends  of  both  these  tribes. 

The  latter  related  that  once  upon  a  time  among 
the  glens  of  their  mountains  dwelt  the  prince  of 
rattlesnakes.  Obedient  subjects  guarded  his  palace, 
and  on  his  head  glittered  in  place  of  a  crown  a  gem 
of  marvellous  magic  virtues.  Many  warriors  and 
magicians  tried  to  get  possession  of  this  precious  talis 
man,  but  were  destroyed  by  the  poisoned  fangs  of  its 
defenders.  Finally,  one  more  inventive  than  the  rest 
hit  upon  the  bright  idea  of  encasing  himself  in  leather, 
and  by  this  device  marched  unharmed  through  the 
hissing  and  snapping  court,  tore  off  the  shining  jewel, 
and  bore  it  in  triumph  to  his  nation.  They  preserved 
it  with  religious  care,  brought  it  forth  on  state  occa 
sions  with  solemn  ceremony,  and  about  the  middle  of 
the  last  century,  when  Captain  Timberlake  penetrated 
to  their  towns,  told  him  its  origin.1 

The  charm  which  the  Creeks  presented  their  young 
men  when  they  set  out  on  the  war  path  was  of  very 
similar  character.  It  was  composed  of  the  bones  of 
the  panther  and  the  horn  of  the  fabulous  horned 
snake.  According  to  a  legend  taken  down  by  an  un 
impeachable  authority  toward  the  close  of  the  last 
century,  the  great  snake  dwelt  in  the  waters;  the  old 
people  went  to  the  brink  and  sang  the  sacred  songs. 
The  monster  rose  to  the  surface.  The  sages  recom 
menced  the  mystic  chants.  He  rose  a  little  out  o 

1  Memoirs  of  Lieut.  Henry  Timberlake,  p.  48  :  London,  1765. 
This  little  book  gives  an  account  of  the  Cherokees  at  an  earlier 
date  than  is  elsewhere  found. 


116      SYMBOLS  OF  THE  BIRD  AND  THE  SERPENT. 

the  water.  Again  they  repeated  the  songs.  This 
time  he  showed  his  horns  and  they  cut  one  off.  Still 
a  fourth  time  did  they  sing,  and  as  he  rose  to  listen 
cut  off  the  remaining  horn.  A  fragment  of  these  in 
the  "  war  physic"  protected  from  inimical  arrows  and 
gave  success  in  the  conflict.1 

In  these  myths,  which  attribute  good  fortune  to  the 
horn  of  the  snake,  that  horn  which  pierces  trees  and 
rocks,  which  rises  from  the  waters,  which  glitters  as  a 
gem,  which  descends  from  the  ravines  of  the  mountains, 
we  shall  not  overstep  the  bounds  of  prudent  reason 
ing  if  we  see  the  thunderbolt,  sign  of  the  fructify 
ing  rain,  symbol  of  the  strength  of  the  lightning,  horn 
of  the  heavenly  serpent.  They  are  strictly  meteoro 
logical  in  their  meaning.  And  when  in  later  Algon- 
kin  tradition  the  hero  Michabo  appears  in  conflict  with 
the  shining  prince  of  serpents  who  lives  in  the  lake 
and  floods  the  earth  with  its  waters,  and  destroys  the 
reptile  with  a  dart,  and  further  when  the  conqueror 
clothes  himself  with  the  skin  of  his  foe  and  drives 
the  rest  of  the  serpents  to  the  south  where  in  that 
latitude  the  lightnings  are  last  seen  in  the  autumn;2 
or  when  in  the  traditional  history  of  the  Iroquois  we 
hear  of  another  great  horned  serpent  rising  out  of  the 
lake  and  preying  upon  the  people  until  a  similar  hero- 
god  destroys  it  with  a  thunderbolt,3  we  cannot  be 
wrong  in  rejecting  any  historical  or  ethical  interpre 
tation,  and  in  construing  them  as  allegories  which  at 

1  Hawkins,  Sketch  of  tlie  Creek  Country,  p.  80. 

2  Schoolcraft,  Algic  Researches,  i.  p.  179  sq.  ;  compare  ii.  p. 
117. 

3  Morgan,  League  of  the  Iroquois^  p.  159;  Cusic,  Trad.  Hist,  of 
the  Six  Nations,  pt.  ii. 


THE  WAR  PHYSIC.  117 

first  represented  the  atmospheric  changes  which  ac 
company  the  advancing  seasons  and  the  ripening  har 
vests.  They  are  narratives  conveying  under  agreea 
ble  personifications  the  tidings  of  that  unending  com 
bat  which  the  Dakotas  said  was  being  waged  with 
varying  fortunes  by  Unktahe  against  Wauhkeon, 
the  God  of  Waters  against  the  Thunder  Bird.1  They 
are  the  same  stories  which  in  the  old  world  have  been 
elaborated  into  the  struggles  of  Ormuzd  and  Ahri- 
man,  of  Thor  and  Midgard,  of  St.  George  and  the 
Dragon,  and  a  thousand  others. 

Yet  it  were  but  a  narrow  theory  of  natural  religion 
that  allowed  no  other  meaning  to  these  myths. 
Many  another  elemental  warfare  is  being  waged 
around  us,  and  applications  as  various  as  nature  her 
self  lie  in  these  primitive  creations  of  the  human 
fancy.  Let  it  only  be  remembered  that  there  was 
never  any  moral,  never  any  historical  purport  in  them 
in  the  infancy  of  religious  life. 

In  snake  charming  as  a  proof  of  proficiency  in 
magic,  and  in  the  symbol  of  the  lightning,  which 
brings  both  fire  and  water,  which  in  its  might  con 
trols  victory  in  war,  and  in  its  frequency,  plenteous 
crops  at  home,  lies  the  secret  of  the  serpent  symbol. 
As  the  "  war  physic"  among  the  tribes  of  the  United 
States  was  a  fragment  of  a  serpent,  and  as  thus  signi 
fying  his  incomparable  skill  in  war,  the  Iroquois 

1  Mrs.  Eastman,  Legends  of  the  Sioux,  pp.  161,  212.  In  this 
explanation  I  depart  from  Prof.  Schwarz,  who  has  collected 
various  legends  almost  identical  with  these  of  the  Indians  (with 
which  he  was  not  acquainted),  and  interpreted  the  precious 
crown  or  horn  to  be  the  summer  sun,  brought  forth  by  the  early 
vernal  lightning.  Ursprung  der  Mytliologie,  p.  27,  note. 


118      SYMBOLS  OF  THE  BIRD  AXD  THE  SERPEXT. 

represent  their  mythical  king  Atatarho  clothed  in 
nothing  but  black  snakes,  so  that  when  he  wished  to 
don  a  new  suit  he  simply  drove  away  one  set  and 
ordered  another  to  take  their  places,1  so,  by  a  pre 
cisely  similar  mental  process,  the  myth  of  the  Nahuas 
assigns  as  a  mother  to  their  war  god  Huitzilapochtli, 
Coatlicue,  the  robe  of  serpents;  her  dwelling  place 
Coatepec,  the  hill  of  serpents ;  and  at  her  lying-in  say 
that  she  brought  forth  a  serpent.  Her  son's  image 
was  surrounded  by  serpents,  his  sceptre  was  in  the 
shape  of  one,  his  great  drum  was  of  serpents'  skins, 
and  his  statue  rested  on  four  vermiform  caryatides. 

As  the  symbol  of  the  fertilizing  summer  showers 
the  lightning  serpent  was  the  god  of  fruitfulness. 
Born  in  the  atmospheric  waters,  it  was  an  appropriate 
attribute  of  the  ruler  of  the  winds.  But  we  have 
already  seen  that  the  winds  were  often  spoken  of  as 
great  birds.  Hence  the  union  of  these  two  emblems 
in  such  names  as  Quetzalcoatl,  Gucumatz,  Kukulkan, 
all  titles  of  the  god  of  the  air  in  the  languages  of 
Central  America,  all  signifying  the  "  Bird-serpent." 
Here  also  we  see  the  solution  of  that  monument  which 
has  so  puzzled  American  antiquaries,  the  cross  at 
Palenque.  It  is  a  tablet  on  the  wall  of  an  altar  re 
presenting  a  cross  surmounted  by  a  bird  and  supported 
by  the  head  of  a  serpent.  The  latter  is  not  well  de 
fined  in  the  plate  in  Mr.  Stephens'  Travels,  but  is 
very  distinct  in  the  photographs  taken  by  M.  Char- 
nay,  which  that  gentleman  was  kind  enough  to  show 
me.  The  cross  I  have  previously  shown  was  the 
symbol  of  the  four  winds,  and  the  bird  and  serpent 

1  Cusic,  IT.  s.,  pt.  ii. 


THE  GOD  OF  RICHES.  119 

are  simply  the  rebus  of  the  air  god,  their  ruler.1  Quet- 
zalcoatl,  called  also  Yolcuat,  the  rattlesnake,  was  no 
less  intimately  associated  with  serpents  than  with 
birds.  The  entrance  to  his  temple  at  Mexico  re 
presented  the  jaws  of  one  of  these  reptiles,  and  he 
finally  disappeared  in  the  province  of  Coatzacoalco, 
the  hiding  place  of  the  serpent,  sailing  towards  the 
east  in  a  bark  of  serpents'  skins.  All  this  refers  to 
his  power  over  the  lightning  serpent. 

He  was  also  said  to  be  the  god  of  riches  and  the 
patron  consequently  of  merchants.  For  with  the 
summer  lightning  come  the  harvest  and  the  ripening 
fruits,  come  riches  and  traffic.  Moreover  "the  golden 
color  of  the  liquid  fire,"  as  Lucretius  expresses  it, 
naturally  -led  where  this  metal  was  known,  to  its 
being  deemed  the  product  of  the  lightning.  Thus 
originated  many  of  those  tales  of  a .  dragon  who 
watches  a  treasure  in  the  earth,  and  of  a  serpent  who 
is  the  dispenser  of  riches,  such  as  were  found  among 
the  Greeks  and  ancient  Germans.2  So  it  was  in  Peru 
where  the  god  of  riches  was  worshipped  under  the 
image  of  a  rattlesnake  horned  and  hairy,  with  a  tail 
of  gold.  It  was  said  to  have  descended  from  the 
heavens  in  the  sight  of  all  the  people,  and  to  have 
been  seen  by  the  whole  army  of  the  Inca.3  Whether 

1  This  remarkable  relic  has  been  the  subject  of  a  long  and  able 
article  in  the  Revue  Americaine  (torn.  ii.  p.  69),  by  the  venera 
ble  traveller  De  Waldeck.     Like  myself— and  I  had  not  seen  his 
opinion  until  after  the  above  was  written — he  explains  the  cruci 
form  design  as  indicating  the  four  cardinal  points,  but  offers  the 
explanation  merely  as  a  suggestion,  and  without  referring  to 
these  symbols  as  they  appear  in  so  many  other  connections. 

2  Schwarz,  Ursprung  der  Mythologie,  pp.  62  sqq. 

3  "  I  have  examined  many  Indians  in  reference  to  these  details, ' ' 


120      SYMBOLS  OF  THE  BIRD  AND  THE  SERPENT. 

it  was  in  reference  to  it,  or  as  emblems  of  their 
prowess,  that  the  Incas  themselves  chose  as  their 
arms  two  serpents  with  their  tails  interlaced,  is  un 
certain  ;  possibly  one  for  each  of  these  significations. 

Because  the  rattlesnake,  the  lightning  serpent,  is 
thus  connected  with  the  food  of  man,  and  itself  seems 
never  to  die  but  annually  to  renew  its  youth,  the 
Algonkins  called  it  "  grandfather"  and  "  king  of 
snakes;"  they  feared  to  injure  it;  they  believed  it 
could  grant  prosperous  breezes,  or  raise  disastrous 
tempests ;  crowned  with  the  lunar  crescent  it  was  the 
constant  symbol  of  life  in  their  picture  writing ;  and 
in  the  meda  signs  the  mythical  grandmother  of  man 
kind  me  suk  kum  me  go  kwa  was  indifferently  repre 
sented  by  an  old  woman  or  a  serpent.1  For  like 
reasons  Cihuacoatl,  the  Serpent  Woman,  in  the 
myths  of  the  Nahuas  was  also  called  Toriantzin,  our 
mother.2 

The  serpent  symbol  in  America  has,  however,  been 
brought  into  undue  prominence.  It  had  such  an 
ominous  significance  in  Christian  art,  and  one  which 
chimed  so  well  with  the  favorite  proverb  of  the  early 
missionaries — "the  gods  of  the  heathens  are  devijs" 
— that  wherever  they  saw  a  carving  or  picture  of  a 
serpent  they  at  once  recognized  the  sign  manual  of 
the  Prince  of  Darkness,  and  inscribed  the  fact  in  their 
note-books  as  proof  positive  of  their  cherished  theory. 

says  the  narrator,  an  Augustin  monk  writing  in  1554,  "  and  they 
have  all  confirmed  them  as  eye-witnesses"  (Lettre  sur  les  Super 
stitions  du  Perou,  p.  106,  ed.  Ternaux-Compans.  This  document 
is  very  valuable). 

1  Narrative  of  John  Tanner,  p.  355;  Henry,  Travels,  p.  176. 

2  Torquemada,  Monarquia  Indiana,  lib.  vi.  cap.  31. 


MEANING  OF  THE  SERPENT  SYMBOL.  121 

After  going  over  the  whole  ground,  I  am  convinced 
that  none  of  the  tribes  of  the  red  race  attached  to  this 
symbol  any  ethical  significance  whatever,  and  that  as 
employed  to  express  atmospheric  phenomena,  and 
the  recognition  of  divinity  in  natural  occurrences,  it 
far  more  frequently  typified  what  was  favorable  and 
agreeable  than  the  reverse. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  MYTHS  OF  WATER,  FIRE,  AND  THE 
THUNDER-STORM. 

Water  the  oldest  element.  —  Its  use  in  purification.  —  Holy  water.  —  The 
Rite  of  Baptism.—  The  Water  of  Life.—  Its  symbols.—  The  Vase.—  The 
Moon.  —  The  latter  the  goddess  of  love  and  agriculture,  but  also  of 
sickness,  night,  and  pain.  —  Often  represented  by  a  dog.  —  Fire  worship 
under  the  form  of  Sun  worship.  —  The  perpetual  fire.  —  The  new  fire.  — 
Burning  the  dead.  —  A  worship  of  the  passions,  but  no  sexual  dualism 
in  myths,  nor  any  phallic  worship  in  America.  —  Synthesis  of  the  wor 
ship  of  Fire,  Water,  and  the  Winds  in  the  THUNDER-STORM,  personified 
as  Haokah,  Tupa,  Catequil,  Contici,  Heno,  Tlaloc,  Mixcoatl,  and  other 
deities,  many  of  them  triune. 


primitive  man  was  a  brute  in  everything  but 
the  susceptibility  to  culture  ;  the  chief  market 
of  his  time  was  to  sleep,  fight,  and  feed  ;  his  bodily 
comfort  alone  had  any  importance  in  his  eyes  ;  and 
his  gods  were  nothing,  unless  they  touched  him  here. 
Cold,  hunger,  thirst,  these  were  the  hounds  that 
were  ever  on  his  track  ;  these  were  the  fell  powers 
he  saw  constantly  snatching  away  his  fellows,  con 
stantly  aiming  their  invisible  shafts  at  himself.  Fire, 
food,  and  water  were  the  gods  that  fought  on  his  side  ; 
they  were  the  chief  figures  in  his  pantheon,  his  kind 
liest,  perhaps  his  earliest,  divinities. 

With  a  nearly  unanimous  voice  mythologies  assign 
the  priority  to  water.  It  was  the  first  of  all  things, 
the  parent  of  all  things.  Even  the  gods  themselves 
were  born  of  water,  said  the  Greeks  and  the  Aztecs. 


THE  PRIMITIVE  ELEMENT.  123 

Cosmogonies  reach  no  further  than  the  primeval 
ocean  that  rolled  its  shoreless  waves  through  a  time 
less  night. 

"  Omnia  pontus  erant,  deerant  quoque  litora  ponto." 

Earth,  sun,  stars,  lay  concealed  in  its  fathomless 
abysses.  "All  of  us,"  ran  the  Mexican  baptismal 
formula,  "  are  children  of  Chalchihuitlycue,  Goddess 
of  Water,"  and  the  like  was  said  by  the  Peruvians 
of  Mama  Cocha,  by  the  Botocudos  of  Taru,  by  the 
natives  of  Darien  of  Dobayba,  by  the  Iroquois  of 
Ataensic — all  of  them  mothers  of  mankind,  all  per 
sonifications  of  water. 

How  account  for  such  unanimity  ?  Not  by  sup 
posing  some  ancient  intercourse  between  remote 
tribes,  but  by  the  uses  of  water  as  the  originator  and 
supporter,  the  essential  prerequisite  of  life.  Leav 
ing  aside  the  analogy  presented  by  the  motherly 
waters  which  nourish  the  unborn  child,  nor  empha 
sizing  how  indispensable  it  is  as  a  beverage,  the  many 
offices  this  element  performs  in  nature  lead  easily  to 
the  supposition  that  it  must  have  preceded  all  else. 
By  quenching  thirst,  it  quickens  life;  as  the  dew  and 
the  rain  it  feeds  the  plant,  and  when  withheld  the 
seed  perishes  in  the  ground  and  forests  and  flowers 
alike  wither  away ;  as  the  fountain,  the  river,  and  the 
lake,  it  enriches  the  valley,  offers  safe  retreats,  and 
provides  store  of  fishes ;  as  the  ocean,  it  presents  the 
most  fitting  type  of  the  infinite.  It  cleanses,  it  puri 
fies  ;  it  produces,  it  preserves.  "  Bodies,  "unless  dis 
solved,  cannot  act,"  is  a  maxim  of  the  earliest  chemis 
try.  Yery  plausibly,  therefore,  was  it  assumed  as  the 
source  of  all  things. 


124     MYTHS  OF  WATER,  FIRE,  AND  THUNDER-STORM. 

The  adoration  of  streams,  springs,  and  lakes,  or 
rather  of  the  spirits  their  rulers,  prevailed  every 
where  ;  sometimes  avowedly  because  they  provided 
food,  as  was  the  case  with  the  Moxos,  who  called 
themselves  children  of  the  lake  or  river  on  which 
their  village  was,  and  were  afraid  to  migrate  lest  their 
parent  should  be  vexed;1  sometimes  because  they 
were  the  means  of  irrigation,  as  in  Peru,  or  on  more 
general  mythical  grounds.  A  grove  by  a  fountain  is 
in  all  nature  worship  the  ready-made  shrine  of  the 
sylphs  who  live  in  its  limpid  waves  and  chatter  mys 
teriously  in  its  shallows.  On  such  a  spot  in  our  Gulf 
States  one  rarely  fails  to  find  the  sacrificial  mound  of 
the  ancient  inhabitants,  and  on  such  the  natives  of 
Central  America  were  wont  to  erect  their  altars 
(Ximenes).  Lakes  are  the  natural  centres  of  civiliza 
tion.  Like  the  lacustrine  villages  which  the  Swiss 
erected  in  ante-historic  times,  like  ancient  Venice,  the 
city  of  Mexico  was  first  built  on  piles  in  a  lake,  and 
for  the  same  reason — protection  from  attack.  Security 
once  obtained,  growth  and  power  followed.  Thus  we 
can  trace  the  earliest  rays  of  Aztec  civilization  rising 
from  lake  Tezcuco,  of  the  Peruvian  from  Lake  Titi- 
caca,  of  the  Muyscas  from  Lake  Guatavita.  These 
are  the  centres  of  legendary  cycles.  Their  waters 
were  hallowed  by  venerable  reminiscences.  From 
the  depths  of  Titicaca  rose  Viracocha,  mythical 
civilizer  of  Peru.  Guatavita  was  the  bourne  of  many 
a  foot-sore  pilgrim  in  the  ancient  empire  of  the  Zac. 
Once  a  year  the  high  priest  poured  the  collective 
offerings  of  the  multitude  into  its  waves,  and  anointed 

1  A.  D'Orbigny,  L'Homme  Americain,  i.  p.  240. 


HOLY  WATER.  125 

with  oils  and  glittering  with  gold  dust,  dived  deep  in 
its  midst,  professing  to  hold  communion  with  the 
goddess  who  there  had  her  home.1 

Not  only  does  the  life  of  man  but  his  well-being 
depends  on  water.  As  an  ablution  it  invigorates  him 
bodily  and  mentally.  No  institution  was  in  higher 
honor  among  the  North  American  Indians  than  the 
sweat-bath  followed  by  the  cold  douche.  It  was 
popular  not  only  as  a  remedy  in  every  and  any  dis 
ease,  but  as  a  preliminary  to  a  council  or  an  im 
portant  transaction.  Its  real  value  in  cold  climates 
is  proven  by  the  sustained  fondness  for  the  Eussian 
bath  in  the  north  of  Europe.  The  Incfeins,  however, 
with  their  usual  superstition  attributed  its  good  effects 
to  some  mysterious  healing  power  in  water  itself. 
Therefore,  when  the  patient  was  not  able  to  undergo 
the  usual  process,  or  when  his  medical  attendant  was 
above  the  vulgar  and  routine  practice  of  his  profes 
sion,  it  was  administered  on  the  infinitesimal  system. 
The  quack  muttered  a  formula  over  a  gourd  filled 
from  a  neighboring  spring  and  sprinkled  it  on  his 
patient,  or  washed  the  diseased  part,  or  sucked  out 
the  evil  spirit  and  blew  it  into  a  bowl  of  water,  and 
then  scattered  the  liquid  on  the  fire  or  earth.2 

The  use  of  such  "  holy  water"  astonished  the 
Eomanist  missionaries,  and  they  at  once  detected 
Satan  parodying  the  Scriptures.  But  their  astonish 
ment  rose  to  horror  when  they  discovered  among 
various  nations  a  rite  of  baptism  of  appalling  simi- 

1  Kivero   and   Tschudi,   Peruvian  Antiquities,   162,   after  J. 
Acosta. 

2  Narrative  of  Oceola  Nikkanoche,  Prince  of  EconcJiatti,  p.  141 ; 
Schoolcraft,  Ind.  Tribes,  iv.  p.  650. 


126     MYTHS  OF  WATER,  FIRE,  AND  THUNDER-STORM. 

larity  to  their  own,  connected  with  the  imposing  of  a 
name,  done  avowedly  for  the  purpose  of  freeing  from 
inherent  sin,  believed  to  produce  a  regeneration  of 
the  spiritual  nature,  nay,  in  more  than  one  instance 
called  by  an  indigenous  word  signifying  "  to  be  born 
again."1  Such  a  rite  was  of  immemorial  antiquity 
among  the  Cherokees,  Aztecs,  Mayas,  and  Peruvians. 
Had  the  missionaries  remembered  that  it  was  prac 
tised  in  Asia  with  all  these  meanings  long  before  it 
was  chosen  as  the  sign  of  the  new  covenant,  they 
need  have  invoked  neither  Satan  nor  Saint  Thomas 
to  explain  its  presence  in  America. 

As  corporeal1  is  near  akin  to  spiritual  pollution,  and 
cleanliness  to  godliness,  ablution  preparatory  to  en 
gaging  in  religious  acts  came  early  to  have  an  emble-- 
matic  as  well  as  a  real  significance.  The  water  freed 
the  soul  from  sin  as  it  did  the  skin  from  stain.  We 
should  come  to  God  with  clean  hands  and  a  clean 
heart.  As  Pilate  washed  his  hands  before  the  multi 
tude  to  indicate  that  he  would  not  accept  the  moral 
responsibility  of  their  acts,  so  from  a  similar  motive 
(  a  Natchez  chief,  who  had  been  persuaded  against  his 
sense  of  duty  not  to  sacrifice  himself  on  the  pyre  of 
his  ruler,  took  clean  water,  washed  his  hands,  and 
threw  it  upon  live  coals.2  When  an  ancient  Peru 
vian  had  laid  bare  his  guilt  by  confession,  he  bathed 
himself  in  a  neighboring  river  and  repeated  this  for 
mula  : — 

"  0  thou  Eiver,  receive  the  sins  I  have  this  day 

'  The  term  in  Maya  is  caput  zihil,  corresponding  exactly  to  the 
Latin  renasci,  to  be  re-born,  Landa,  Eel.  de  Yucatan,  p.  144. 
2  Duniont,  Mems.  Hist,  sur  la  Loumane,  i.  p.  233. 


THE  RITE  OF  BAPTISM.  127 

confessed  unto  the  Sun,  carry  them  down  to  the  sea, 
and  let  them  never  more  appear."1 

The  Navajo  who  has  been  deputed  to  carry  a  dead 
body  to  burial,  holds  himself  unclean  until  he  has 
thoroughly  washed  himself  in  water  prepared  for  the 
purpose  by  certain  ceremonies.2  A  bath  was  an  in 
dispensable  step  in  the  mysteries  of  Mithras,  the 
initiation  at  Eleusis,  the  meda  worship  of  the  Algon- 
kins,  the  Busk  of  the  Creeks,  the  ceremonials  of  reli 
gion  everywhere.  Baptism  was  at  first  always 
immersion.  It  was  a  bath  meant  to  solemnize  the 
reception  of  the  child  into  the  guild  of  mankind, 
drawn  from  the  prior  custom  of  ablution  at  any 
solemn  occasion.  In  both  the  object  is  greater  purity, 
bodily  and  spiritual.  As  certainly  as  there  is  a  law 
of  conscience,  as  certainly  as  our  actions  fall  short  of. 
our  volitions,  so  certainly  is  man  painfully  aware  of 
various  imperfections  and  shortcomings.  What  he 
feels  he  attributes  to  the  infant.  Avowedly  to  free 
themselves  from  this  sense  of  guilt  the  Delawares 
used  an  emetic  (Loskiel),  the  Cherokees  a  potion 
cooked  up  by  an  order  of  female  warriors  (Timber- 
lake),  the  Takahlies  of  Washington  Territory,  the 
Aztecs,  Mayas,  and  Peruvians,  auricular  confession. 
Formulize  these  feelings  and  we  have  the  dogmas  of 
"  original  sin,"  and  of  "  spiritual  regeneration."  The 
order  of  baptism  among  the  Aztecs  commenced,  "  0 
child,  receive  the  water  of  the  Lord  of  the  world, 
which  is  our  life;  it  is  to  wash  and  to  purify;  ma 

1  Acosta,  Hist,  of  the  New  World,  lib.  v.  cap.  25. 

2  Senate  Report  on  Condition  of  Indian  Tribes,  p.  358  :  Wash 
ington,  1867. 


128    MYTHS  OF  WATER,  FIRE,  AND  THUNDER-STORM. 

these  drops  remove  the  sin  which  was  given  to  thee 
before  the  creation  of  the  world,  since  all  of  us  are 
under  its  power;"  and  concluded,  "Now  he  liveth 
anew  and  is  born  anew,  now  is  he  purified  and 
cleansed,  now  our  mother  the  Water  again  bringeth 
him  into  the  world."1 

A  name  was  then  assigned  to  the  child,  usually 
that  of  some  ancestor,  who  it  was  supposed  would 
thus  be  induced  to  exercise  a  kindly  supervision  over 
the  little  one's  future.  In  after  life  should  the  person 
desire  admittance  to  a  superior  class  of  the  popula 
tion  and  had  the  wealth  to  purchase  it — for  here  as 
in  more  enlightened  lands  nobility  was  a  matter  of 
money — he  underwent  a  second  baptism  and  received 
another  name,  but  still  ostensibly  from  the  goddess 
of  water.2 

In  Peru  the  child  was  immersed  in  the  fluid,  the 
priest  exorcised  the  evil  and  bade  it  enter  the  water, 
which  was  then  buried  in  the  ground.3  In  either 
country  sprinkling  could  take  the  place  of  immersion. 
The  Cherokees  believe  that  unless  the  rite  is  punctu 
ally  performed  when  the  child  is  three  days  old,  it 
will  inevitably  die.4 

1  Sahagun,  Hint,  de  la  Nueva  Espana,  lib.  vi.  cap.  37. 

2  Ternaux-Compans,  Pieces  reL  a  la  Cong,  du  Mexique,  p.  233. 

3  Velasco,  Hist,  de  la  Eoyaume  de  Quito,  p.  106,  and  others. 

1  "Whipple,  Rep.  on  the  Indian  Tribes,  p.  35.  I  am  not  sure 
that  this  practice  was  of  native  growth  to  the  Cherokees.  This 
people  have  many  customs  and  traditions  strangely  similar  to 
those  of  Christians  and  Jews.  Their  cosmogony  is  a  paraphrase 
of  that  of  Genesis  (Squier,  Serp.  /Symbol,  from  Payne's  MSB.); 
the  number  seven  is  as  sacred  with  them  as  it  was  with  the 
Chaldeans  (Whipple,  u.  s.);  and  they  have  improved  and  in 
creased  by  contact  with  the  whites.  Significant  in  this  connec- 


THE  WATER  OF  LIFE.  129 

As  thus  curative  and  preservative,  it  was  imagined 
that  there  was  water  of  which  whoever  should  drink 
would  not  die,  but  live  forever.  I  have  already 
alluded  to  the  Fountain  of  Youth,  supposed  long 
before  Columbus  saw  the  surf  of  San  Salvador  to  exist 
in  the  Bahama  Islands  or  Florida.  It  seems  to  have 
lingered  long  on  that  peninsula.  Not  many  years 
ago,  Coacooche,  a  Seminole  chieftain,  related  a  vision 
which  had  nerved  him  to  a  desperate  escape  from  the 
Castle  of  St.  Augustine.  "In  my  dream,"  said  he, 
"  I  visited  the  happy  hunting  grounds  and  saw  my 
twin  sister,  long  since  gone.  She  offered  me  a  cup 
of  pure  water,  which  she  said  came  from  the  spring 
of  the  Great  Spirit,  and  if  I  should  drink  of  it,  I 
should  return  and  live  with  her  forever."1  Some 
such  mystical  respect  for  the  element,  rather  than  as 
a  mere  outfit  for  his  spirit  home,  probably  induced 
the  earlier  tribes  of  the  same  territoiy  to  place  the 
conch-shell  which  the  deceased  had  used  for  a  cup  con 
spicuously  on  his  grave,2  and  the  Mexicans  and  Peru- 

tion  is  the  remark  of  Bartram,  who  visited  them  in  1773,  that 
some  of  their  females  were  "nearly  as  fair  and  blooming  as  Euro 
pean  women,"  and  generally  that  their  complexion  was  lighter 
than  their  neighbors  (Travels,  p.  485).  Two  explanations  of 
these  facts  may  be  suggested.  They  may  be  descendants  in  part 
of  the  ancient  white  race  near  Cape  Hatteras,  to  whom  I  have 
referred  in  a  previous  note.  More  probably  they  derived  their 
peculiarities  from  the  Spaniards  of  Florida.  Mr.  Shea  is  of  opinion 
that  missions  were  established  among  them  as  early  as  1566  and 
1643  (Hist,  of  Catholic  Missions  in  the  U.  £.,  pp.  58,  73).  Cer 
tainly  in  the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  Spaniards 
were  prosecuting  mining  operations  in  their  territory  (See  Am. 
Hist.  Mag.,  x.  p.  137). 

1  Sprague,  Hist,  of  the  Florida  War,  p.  328. 

2  Basanier,  Histoire  Notable  de  la  Floride,  p.  10. 

9 


130    MYTHS  OF  WATER,  FIRE,  AND  THUNDER-STORM. 

vians  to  inter  a  vase  filled  with,  water  with  the  corpse, 
or  to  sprinkle  it  with  the  liquid,  baptizing  it,  as  it 
were,  into  its  new  associations.1  It  was  an  emblem 
of  the  hope  that  should  cheer  the  dwellings  of  the 
dead,  a  symbol  of  the  resurrection  which  is  in  store  for 
those  who  have  gone  down  to  the  grave. 

The  vase  or  the  gourd  as  a  symbol  of  water,  the 
source  and  preserver  of  life,  is  a  conspicuous  figure 
in  the  myths  of  ancient  America.  As  Akbal  or  Hue- 
comitl,  the  great  or  original  vase,  in  Aztec  and  Maya 
legends  it  plays  important  parts  in  the  drama  of  crea 
tion;  as  Tici  (Ticcu)  in  Peru  it  is  the  symbol  of  the 
rains,  and  as  a  gourd  it  is  often  mentioned  by  the 
Caribs  and  Tupis  as  the  parent  of  the  atmospheric 
waters. 

As  the  Moox  is  associated  with  the  dampness  and 
dews  of  night,  an  ancient  and  wide-spread  myth 
identified  her  with  the  Goddess  of  Water.  More 
over,  in  spite  of  the  expostulations  of  the  learned, 
the  common  people  the  world  over  persist  in  attri 
buting  to  her  a  marked  influence  on  the  rains. 
Whether  false  or  true,  this  familiar  opinion  is  of 
great  antiquity,  and  was  decidedly  approved  by  the 
Indians,  who  were  all,  in  the  words  of  an  old  author, 
"  great  observers  of  the  weather  by  the  moon."2 
They  looked  upon  her  not  only  as  forewarning  them 
by  her  appearance  of  the  approach  of  rains  and  fogs, 
but  as  being  their  actual  cause. 

Isis,  her  Egyptian  title,  literally  means  moisture ; 

1  Saliagun,  Hist,  de  la  Nueva  Espana,  lib.  iii.  app.  cap.  i: ; 
Meyen,  Ueber  die  UreinwoJmer  von  Peru,  p.  29. 

2  Gabriel  Thomas,  Hist,  of  West  New  Jersey,  p.  6 :  London, 
1G98. 


THE  MO  UN  AS  GODDESS  OF  WATER.  131 

Ataensic,  whom  the  Hurons  said  was  the  moon,  is 
derived  from  the  word  for  water ;  and  Citatli  and  Atl, 
moon  and  water,  are  constantly  confounded  in  Aztec 
theology.  Their  attributes  were  strikingly  alike. 
They  were  .both  the  mythical  mothers  of  the  race, 
and  both  protect  women  in  child-birth,  the  babe  in 
the  cradle,  the  husbandman  in  the  field,  and  the 
youth  and  maiden  in  their  tender  affections.  As  the 
transfer  of  legends  was  nearly  always  from  the  water 
to  its  lunar  goddess,  by  bringing  them  in  at  this 
point  their  true  meaning  will  not  fail  to  be  apparent. 

We  must  ever  bear  in  mind  that  the  course  of 
mythology  is  from  many^gods  toward  one,  that  it  is 
a  synthesis  not  an  analysis,  and  that  in  this_  process 
the  tgmleiicyj is  to  blend  in  one  the  traits  and  stories 
of  originaTiy^eparate  divinities.  As  has  justly  been 
observed  by  the  Mexican  antiquarian  Gama  :  "  It  was 
a  common  trait  among  the  Indians  to  worship  many 
gods  under  the  figure  of  one,  principally  those  whose 
activities  lay  in  the  same  direction,  or  those  in  some 
way  related  among  themselves."1 

The  time  of  full  moon  was  chosen  both  in  Mexico 
and  Peru  to  celebrate  the  festival  of  the  deities  of 
water,  the  patrons  of  agriculture,2  and  very  generally 
the  ceremonies  connected  with  the  crops  were  regu 
lated  by  her  phases.  The  Nicaraguans  said  that  the 
god  of  rains,  Quiateot,  rose  in  the  east,3  thus  hinting 
how  this  connection  originated.  At  a  lunar  eclipse 
the  Orinoko  Indians  seized  their  hoes  and  labored 

1  Gama,  Des.  de  las  dos  Piedras,  etc.,  i.  p.  30. 

2  Garcia,  Or.  de  los  Indios,  p.  109. 

3  Oviedo,  Eel.  de  la  Prov.  de  Nicaragua,  p.  41.     The  name  is 
a  corruption  of  the  Aztec  Quiauhteoll,  Rain-God. 


132     MYTHS  OF  WATER,  FIRE,  AND  2IIUNDER-STORM. 

with  exemplary  vigor  on  their  growing  corn,  saying 
the  moon  was  veiling  herself  in  anger  at  their  habi 
tual  laziness  j1  and  a  description  of  the  New  Nether 
lands,  written  about  1650,  remarks  that  the  savages 
of  that  land  "ascribe  great  influence  to  the  moon 
over  crops."2  This  venerable  superstition,  common 
to  all  races,  still  lingers  among  our  own  farmers, 
many  of  whom  continue  to  observe  "  the  signs  of  the 
moon"  in  sowing  grain,  setting  out  trees,  cutting 
timber,  and  other  rural  avocations. 

As  representing  water,  the  universal  mother,  the 
moon  was  the  protectress  of  women  in  child-birth, 
the  goddess  of  love  and  babes,  the  patroness  of  mar 
riage.  To  her  the  mother  called  in  travail,  whether 
by  the  name  of  "  Diana,  diva  triformis"  in  pagan 
Eome,  by  that  of  Mama  Quilla  in  Peru,  or  of  Meztli 
in  Anahuac.  Under  the  title  of  Yohualticitl,  the 
Lady  of  Night,  she  was  also  in  this  latter  country 
the  guardian  of  babes,  and  as  Teczistecatl,  the  cause 
of  generation.1 

Very  different  is  another  aspect  of  the  moon  god 
dess,  and  well  might  the  Mexicans  paint  her  with 
two  colors.  The  beneficent  dispenser  of  harvests 
and  offspring,  she  nevertheless  has  a  portentous  and 
terrific  phase.  She  is  also  the  goddess  of  the  night, 
the  dampness,  and  the  cold ;  she  engenders  the  mias 
matic  poisons  that  rack  our  bones ;  she  conceals  in 
her  mantle  the  foe  who  takes  us  unawares ;  she  rules 
those  vague  shapes  which  fright  us  in  the  dim  light ; 

1  Gumilla,  Hist,  del  Orinoco,  ii.  cap.  23. 

2  Doc.  Hist,  of  New  York,  iv.  p.  130. 

3  Gama,  Des.  de  las  dos  Piedras,  ii.  p.  41 ;  Gallatin,  Trans. 
Am.  Ethnol.  Soc.,  i.  p.  343. 


THE  MOON  AS  GODDESS  OF  NIGHT.  133 

the  causeless  sounds  of  niglit  or  its  more  oppressive 
silence  are  familiar  to  her;  she  it  is  who  sends 
dreams  wherein  gods  and  devils  have  their  sport 
with  man,  and  slumber,  the  twin  brother  of  the 
grave.  In  the  occult  philosophy  of  the  middle  ages 
she  was  "Chief  over  the  Night,  Darkness,  Eest, 
Death,  and  the  Waters;"1  in  the  language  of  the 
Algonkins,  her  name  is  identical  with  the  words  for 
night,  death,  cold,  sleep,  and  water.2 

She  is  the  evil  minded  woman  who  thus  brings 
diseases  upon  men,  who  at  the  outset  introduced  pain 
and  death  in  the  world — our  common  mother,  yet 
the  cruel  cause  of  our  present  woes.  Sometimes  it 
is  the  moon,  sometimes  water,  of  whom  this  is  said : 
"  We  are  all  of  us  under  the  power  of  evil  and  sin, 
because  we  are  children  of  the  Water,"  says  the 
Mexican  baptismal  formula.  That  Unktahe,  spirit  of 
water,  is  the  master  of  dreams  and  witchcraft,  is  the 
belief  of  the  Dakotas.3  A  female  spirit,  wife  of  the 
great  manito  whose  heart  is  the  sun,  the  ancient 
Algonkins  believed  brought  death  and  disease  to  the 

1  Adrian  Van  Helmont,  WorTces,  p.  142,  fol.  :  London,  16G2. 

2  The  moon  is  nip  a  or  nipaz ;  nipa,  I  sleep ;  nipawi,  niglit ; 
nip,  I  die  ;  nepua,  dead  ;  nipanoue,  cold.     This  odd  relationship 
was  first  pointed  out  by  Volney  (Duponceau,  Langues  de  VAme- 
rique  du  Nord,  p.  317).     But  the  kinship  of  these  words  to  that 
for  water,  nip,  nipi,  nepi,  has  not  before  been  noticed.     This 
proves  the  association  of  ideas  on  which  I  lay  so  much  stress  in 
mythology.     A  somewhat  similar  relationship  exists  in  the  Aztec 
and  cognate  languages,  miqui,  to  die,  micqui,  dead,  mictlan,  the 
realm  of  death,  te-miqui,  to  dream,  cec-miqui,  to  freeze.     Would 
it  be  going  too  far  to  connect  these  with  metzli,  moon  ?     (See 
Buschmann,   Spuren  der  Aztekischen  Spraclie    im  Nordlichen 
Mexico,  p.  80.) 

3  Sclioolcraft,  Ind.  Tribes,  vol.  iii.  p.  483. 


134     MYTHS  OF  WATER,  FIRE,  AND  THUNDER-STORM. 

race ;  "  it  is  she  who  kills  men,  otherwise  they  would 
never  die ;  she  eats  their  flesh  and  knaws  their  vitals, 
till  they  fall  away  and  miserably  perish."1  Who  is 
this  woman?  In  the  legend  of  the  Muyscas  it  is 
Chia,  the  moon,  who  was  also  goddess  of  water  and 
flooded  the  earth  out  of  spite.2  Her  reputation  was 
notoriously  bad.  The  Brazilian  mother  carefully 
shielded  her  infant  from  the  lunar  rays,  believing 
that  they  would  produce  sickness;3 the  hunting  tribes 
of  our  own  country  will  not  sleep  in  its  light,  nor 
leave  their  game  exposed  to  its  action.  We  our 
selves  have  not  outgrown  such  words  as  lunatic, 
moon-struck,  and  the  like.  Where  did  we  get  these 
ideas?  The  philosophical  historian  of  medicine, 
Kurt  Sprengel,  traces  them  to  the  primitive  and 
popular  medical  theories  of  ancient  Egypt,  in  accord 
ance  with  which  all  maladies  were  the  effects  of  the 
anger  of  the  goddess  Isis,  the  Moisture,  the  Moon.4 

We  have  here  the  key  to  many  myths.  Take  that 
of  Centeotl,  the  Aztec  goddess  of  Maize.  She  was 
said  at  times  to  appear  as  a  woman  of  surpassing 
beauty,  and  allure  some  unfortunate  to  her  embraces, 
destined  to  pay  with  his  life  for  his  brief  moments  of 
pleasure.  Even  to  see  her  in  this  shape  was  a  fatal 
omen.  She  was  also  said  to  belong  to  a  class  of 
gods  whose  home  was  in  the  west,  and  who  produced 
sickness  and  pains.5  Here  we  see  the  evil  aspect  of 

1  Bel.  de  la  Nouv.  France,  1634,  p.  16. 

2  Humboldt,  Vues  des  Cordilleres,  p.  21. 

3  Spix  and  Martius,  Travels  in  Brazil,  ii.  p.  247. 
1  Hist,  de  la  Medecine,  i.  p.  34. 

5  Gama,  Des.  de  las  dos  Piedras,  etc.,  ii.  pp.  100-102.     Compare 
Saliagun,  Hist,  de  la  Nueva  Espana,  lib.  i.  cap.  vi. 


THE  MOON  AS  GODDESS  OF  SICKNESS.  135 

tlie  moon  reflected  on  another  goddess,  who  was  at 
first  solely  the  patroness  of  agriculture. 

As  the  goddess  of  sickness,  it  was  supposed  that 
persons  afflicted  with  certain  diseases  had  been  set 
apart  by  the  moon  for  her  peculiar  service.  These 
diseases  were  those  of  a  humoral  type,  especially  such 
as  are  characterized  by  issues  and  ulcers.  As  in 
Hebrew  the  word  accursed  is  derived  from  a  root 
meaning  consecrated  to  God,  so  in  the  Aztec,  Quiche,  / 
and  other  tongues,  the  word  for  leprous,  eczematous,  or 
syphilitic,  means  also  divine.  This  bizarre  change  of 
meaning  is  illustrated  in  a  very  ancient  myth  of  their 
family.  It  is  said  that  in  the  absence  of  the  sun  all 
mankind  lingered  in  darkness.  Nothing  but  a 
human  sacrifice  could  hasten  his  arrival.  Then 
Metzli,  the  moon,  led  forth  one  Nanahuatl,  the 
leprous,  and  building  a  pyre,  the  victim  threw  him 
self  in  its  midst.  Straightway  Metzli  followed  his 
example,  and  as  she  disappeared  in  the  bright  flames 
the  sun  rose  over  the  horizon.1  Is  not  this  a  reference 
to  the  kindling  rays  of  the  aurora,  in  which  the  dark 
and  baleful  night  is  sacrificed,  and  in  whose  light  the 
moon  presently  fades  away,  and  the  sun  comes  forth  ? 

Another  reaction  in  the  mythological  laboratory  is 
here  disclosed.  As  the  good  qualities  of  water  were 

1  Codex  Cliimalpopoca,  in  Brasseur,  Hist,  du  Mexique,  i.  p.  183. 
Gama  and  osiers  translate  Nanalmatl  by  el  buboso,  Brasseur  by 
le  sypliilitique,  and  the  latter  founds  certain  medical  speculations 
on  the  word.  It  is  entirely  unnecessary  to  say  to  a  surgeon  that 
it  could  not  possibly  have  had  the  latter  meaning,  inasmuch  as 
the  diagnosis  between  secondary  or  tertiary  syphilis  and  other 
similar  diseases  was  unknown.  That  it  is  so  employed  now  is 
nothing  to  the  purpose.  The  same  or  a  similar  myth  was  found 
in  Central  America  and  on  the  Island  of  Haiti. 


136     MYTHS  OF  WATER,  FIRE,  AND  THUNDER-STORM. 

attributed  to  the  goddess  of  night,  sleep,  and  death, 
so  her  malevolent  traits  were  in  turn  reflected  back 
on  this  element.  Other  thoughts  aided  the  transfer. 
In  primitive  geography  the  Ocean  Stream  coils  its 
infinite  folds  around  the  speck  of  land  we  inhabit, 
biding  its  time  to  swallow  it  wholly.  Unwillingly 
did  it  yield  the  earth  from  its  bosom,  daily  does  it 
steal  it  away  piece  by  piece.  Every  evening  it  hides 
the  light  in  its  depths,  and  Night  and  the  Waters 
resume  their  ancient  sway.  The  word  for  ocean 
(mare)  in  the  Latin  tongue  means  by  derivation  a 
desert,  and  the  Greeks  spoke  of  it  as  "the  barren 
brine."  Water  is  a  treacherous  element.  Man  treads 
boldly  on  the  solid  earth,  but  the  rivers  and  lakes 
constantly  strive  to  swallow  those  who  venture  within 
their  reach.  As  streams  run  in  tortuous  channels, 
and  as  rains  accompany  the  lightning  serpent,  this 
animal  was  occasionally  the  symbol  of  the  waters  in 
their  dangerous  manifestations.  The  Huron  magi 
cians  fabled  that  in  the  lakes  and  rivers  dwelt  one  of 
vast  size  called  Angont,  who  sent  sickness,  death,  and 
other  mishaps,  and  the  least  mite  of  whose  flesh  was 
a  deadly  poison.  They  added — and  this  was  the 
point  of  the  tale — that  they  always  kept  on  hand  por 
tions  of  the  monster  for  the  benefit  of  any  who 
opposed  their  designs.1  The  legends  of  the  Algon- 
kins  mention  a  rivalry  between  Michabo,  creator  of 
the  earth,  and  the  Spirit  of  the  Waters,  who  was  un 
friendly  to  the  project.3  In  later  tales  this  antago- 

1  Rel.  de  la  Nouv.  France,  1648,  p.  75. 

2  Charlevoix  is  in  error  when  he- identifies  Michabo  with  the. 
Spirit  of  the  Waters,  and  may  be  corrected  from  his  ocwii  state- 


DOGS  AS  SYMBOLS  OF  THE  MOON.  137 

nism  becomes  more  and  more  pronounced,  and  borrows 
an  ethical  significance  which  it  did  not  have  at  first. 
Taking,  however,  American  religions  as  a  whole, 
water  is  far  more  frequently  represented  as  producing 
beneficent  effects  than  the  reverse.  ^>> 

Dogs  were  supposed  to  stand  in  some  peculiar  rela 
tion  to  the  moon,  probably  because  they  howl  at  it 
and  run  at  night,  uncanny  practices  which  have  cost 
them  dear  in  reputation.  The  custom  prevailed 
among  tribes  so  widely  asunder  as  Peruvians,  Tupis, 
Creeks,  Iroquois,  Algonkins,  and  Greenland  Eskimos 
to  thrash  the  curs  most  soundly  during  an  eclipse.1 
The  Creeks  explained  this  by  saying  that  the  big  dog 
was  swallowing  the  sun,  and  that  by  whipping  the 
little  ones  they  could  make  him  desist.  What  the 
big  dog  was  they  were  not  prepared  to  say.  We 
know.  It  was  the  night  goddess,  represented  by  the 
dog,  who  was  thus  shrouding  the  world  at  midday. 
The  ancient  Eomans  sacrificed  dogs  to  Hecate  and 
Diana,  in  Egypt  they  were  sacred  to  Isis,  and  thus  as 
traditionally  connected  with  night  and  its  terrors,  the 
Prince  of  Darkness,  in  the  superstition  of  the  middle 
ages,  preferably  appeared  under  the  form  of  a  cur,  as 
that  famous  poodle  which  accompanied  Cornelius 
Agrippa,  or  that  which  grew  to  such  enormous  size 
behind  the  stove  of  Dr.  Faustus.  In  a  better  sense, 
they  represented  the  more  agreeable  characteristics 
of  the  lunar  goddess.  Xochiquetzal,  most  fecund  of 

ments  elsewhere.  Compare  his  Journal  Historique,  pp.  281  and 
344  :  ed.  Paris,  1740. 

1  Bradford,  American  Antiquities,  p.  333  ;  Martins,  Von  dem 
Rec7ttszustande  unter  den  Ureinwolmern  Brasiliens,  p.  32 ; 
Schoolcraft,  Ind.  Tribes,  i.  p.  271. 


138     MYTHS  OF  WATER,  FIRE,  AND  TIIUXDER-STORM. 

Aztec  divinities,  patroness  of  love,  of  sexual  pleasure, 
and  of  childbirth,  was  likewise  called  Itzcuinan^ 
which,  literally  translated,  is  bitch-mother.  This 
strange  and  to  us  so  repugnant  title  for  a  goddess  was 
not  without  parallel  elsewhere.  When  in  his  wars 
the  Inca  Pachacutec  carried  his  arms  into  the  pro 
vince  of  Huanca,  he  found  its  inhabitants  had  installed 
in  their  temples  the  figure  of  a  dog  as  their  highest 
deity.  They  were  accustomed  also  to  select  one  as 
his  living  representative,  to  pray  to  it  and  offer  it 
sacrifice,  and  when  well  fattened,  to  serve  it  up  with 
solemn  ceremonies  at  a  great  feast,  eating  their  god 
substantialiter.  The  priests  in  this  province  sum 
moned  their  attendants  to  the  temples  by  blowing 
through  an  instrument  fashioned  from  a  dog's  skull.1 
This  canine  canonization  explains  why  in  some  parts 
of  Peru  a  priest  was  called  bv  way  of  honor  allco, 
dog  !2  And  why  in  many  tombs  both  there  and  in 
Mexico  their  skeletons  are  found  carefully  interred 
with  the  human  remains.  Wherever  the  Aztec  race 
extended  they  seem  to  have  carried  the  adoration  of 
a  wild  species,  the  coyote,  the  canis  latrans  of  natu 
ralists.  The  Shoshonees  of  New  Mexico  call  it  their 
progenitor,3  and  with  the  Nahuas  it  was  in  such  high 
honor  that  it  had  a  temple  of  its  own,  a  congregation 
of  priests  devoted  to  its  service,  statues  carved  in 
stone,  an  elaborate  tomb  at  death,  and  is  said  to  be 
meant  by  the  god  Chantico,  whose  audacity  caused 
the  destruction  of  the  world.  The  story  was  that  he 
made  a  sacrifice  to  the  gods  without  observing  a  pre- 

1  La  Vega,  Hist,  des  Inca*,  liv.  vi.  cap.  9. 

2  Lett,  sur  les  Superstitions  du  Perou,  p.  111. 

3  Schoolcraft,  Ind.  Tribes,  iv.  p.  224. 


DOGS  AS  SYMBOLS  OF  THE  MOON.  139 

paratory  fast,  for  which,  he  was  punished  by  being 
changed  into  a  dog.  He  then  invoked  the  god  ot 
death  to  deliver  him,  which  attempt  to  evade  a  just 
punishment  so  enraged  the  divinities  that  they  im 
mersed  the  world  in  water.1 

During  a  storm  on  our  northern  lakes  the  Indians 
think  no  offering  so  likely  to  appease  the  angry  water 
god  who  is  raising  the  tempest  as  a  dog.  Therefore 
they  hasten  to  tie  the  feet  of  one  and  toss  him  over 
board.2  One  meets  constantly  in  their  tales  and 
superstitions  the  mysterious  powers  of  the  animals, 
and  the  distinguished  actions  he  has  at  times  per 
formed  bear  usually  a  close  parallelism  to  those  attri 
buted  to  water  and  the  moon. 

1  Chantico,  according  to  Gama,  means  "  "Wolf's  Head,"  though 
I  cannot  verify  this  from  the  vocabularies  within  my  reach.     He 
is   sometimes   called   Cohuaxolotl   Chantico,  the   snake-servant 
Chantico,  considered  by  Gama  as  one,  by  Torquemada  as  two 
deities  (see  Gama,  Des.  de  las  dos  Piedras,  etc.,  i.  p.  12 ;  ii.  p.  66). 
The  English  word  cantico  in  the  phrase,  for  instance,  "to  cut  a 
cantico, ' '  though  an  Indian  word,  is  not  from  this,  but  from  the 
Algonkin  Delaware  gentkehn,  to  dance  a  sacred  dance.     The 
Dutch  describe  it  as  "a  religious  custom  observed  among  them 
before  death"  (Doc.  Hist,  of  New   York,  iv.  p.  63).     William 
Penn  says  of  the  Lenape,  "their  worship  consists  of  two  parts, 
sacrifice  and  cantico,"  the  latter  "performed  by  round  dances, 
sometimes  words,  sometimes  songs,  then  shouts ;  their  postures 
very  antic  and  differing."    (Letter  to  the  Free  Society  of  Traders^ 
1683,  sec.  21.) 

2  Charlevoix,  Hist.  Gen.  de  la  Nouv.  France,  i.  p.  394  :  Paris, 
1740.     On  the  different  species  of  dogs  indigenous  to  America, 
see  a  note  of  Alex,  von  Humboldt,  Ansichten  der  Natur.,  i.  p. 
134.     It  may  be  noticed  that  Chichimec,  properly  Chichimecatl, 
the  name  of  the  Aztec  tribe  who  succeeded  the  ancient  Toltecs 
in  Mexico,  means  literally  "people  of  the  dog,"  and  was  proba 
bly  derived  from  some  mythological  fable  connected  with  that 
animal. 


140     MYTHS  OF  WATER,  FIRE,  AND  THUNDER-STORM. 

r 

Hunger  and  thirst  were  thus  alleviated  by  water. 
Cold  remained,  and  against  this^re  was  the  shield. 
It  gives  man  light  in  darkness  and  warmth  in  winter ; 
it  shows  him  his  friends  and  warns  him  of  his  foes ; 
the  flames  point  toward  heaven  and  the  smoke  makes 
the  clouds.  Around  it  social  life  begins.  Eor  his 
home  and  his  hearth  the  savage  has  but  one  word, 
and  what  of  tender  emotion  his  breast  can  feel,  is 
linked  to  the  circle  that  gathers  around  his  fire.  The 
council  fire,  the  camp  fire,  and  the  war  fire,  are  so 
many  epochs  in  his  history.  By  its  aid  many  arts 
become  possible,  and  it  is  a  civilizer  in  more  ways 
than  one.  In  the  figurative  language  of  the  red  race, 
it  is  constantly  used  as  "an  emblem  of  peace,  hap 
piness,  and  abundance."1  To  extingish  an  enemy's 
fire  is  to  slay  him;  to  light  a  visitor's  fire  is  to  bid 
him  welcome.  Fire  worship  was  closely  related  to 

1  Narr.  of  the  Captiv.  of  John  Tanner,  p.  362.  From  the 
word  for  fire  in  many  American  tongues  is  formed  the  adjective 
red.  Thus,  Algonkin,  skoda,  fire,  miskoda,  red ;  Kolosch,  Jean, 
fire,  kan,  red  ;  Ugalentz,  takak,  fire,  takak-uete,  red  ;  Tahkali,  cun, 
fire,  tenil-cun,  red  ;  Quiche,  cak,  fire,  cak,  red,  etc.  From  the  ad 
jective  red  comes  often  the  word  for  blood,  and  in  symbolism  the 
color  red  may  refer  to  either  of  these  ideas.  It  was  the  royal 
color  of  the  Incas,  brothers  of  the  sun,  and  a  llama  swathed  in  a 
red  garment  was  the  Peruvian  sacrifice  to  fire  (Garcia,  Or.  de  los 
Indios,  lib.  iv.  caps.  16,  19).  On  the  other  hand  the  war  quipus, 
the  war  wampum,  and  the  war  paint  were  all  of  this  hue,  boding 
their  sanguinary  significance.  The  word  for  fire  in  the  language 
of  the  Delawares,  Nanticokes,  and  neighboring  tribes  puzzles 
me.  It  is  taenda  or  tinda.  This  is  the  Swedish  word  taenda, 
from  whose  root  comes  our  tinder.  Yet  it  is  found  in  vocabu 
laries  as  early  as  1650,  and  is  universally  current  to-day.  It  has 
no  resemblance  to  the  word  for  fire  in  pure  Algonkin.  Was  it 
adopted  from  the  Swedes?  Was  it  introduced  by  wandering 
Vikings  in  remote  centuries  ?  Or  is  it  only  a  coincidence  ? 


SUN  WOE  SHIP.  Ml 

that  of  the  sun,  and  so  much  has  been  said  of  sun 
worship  among  the  aborigines  of  America  that  it  is 
well  at  once  to  assign  it  its  true  position. 

A  generation  ago  it  was  a  fashion  very  muich  ap 
proved  to  explain  all  symbols  and  myths  by  the 
action  of  this  orb  on  nature.  This  short  and  easy 
method  with  mythology  has,  in  Carlylian  phrase,  had 
its  bottom  pulled  from  under  it  in  these  later  times. 
Nowhere  has  it  manifested  its  inefficiency  more  pal 
pably  than  in  America.  One  writer,  while  thus  ex 
plaining  the  religions  of  the  tribes  of  colder  regions 
and  higher  latitudes,  denies  sun  worship  among  the 
natives  of  hot  climates;  another  asserts  that  only 
among  the  latter  did  it  exist  at  all ;  while  a  third  lays 
down  the  maxim  that  the  religion  of  the  red  race  every 
where  "  was  but  a  modification  of  Sun  or  Fire  worship."1 
All  such  sweeping  generalizations  are  untrue,  and  must 
be  so.  No  one  key  can  open  all  the  arcana  of  symbo 
lism.  Man  devised  means  as  varied  as  nature  herself 
to  express  the  idea  of  God  within  him.  The  sun  was 
but  one  of  these,  and  not  the  first  nor  the  most  import 
ant.  Fear,  said  the  wise  Epicurean,  first  made  the 
gods.  The  sun  with  its  regular  course,  its  kindly 
warmth,  its  beneficent  action,  no  wise  inspires  that  sen 
timent.  It  conjures  no  phantasms  to  appal  the  super 
stitious  fancy,  and  its  place  in  primitive  mythology  is 
conformably  inferior.  The  myths  of  the  Eskimos  and 

1  Compare  D'Orbigny,  L^  Homme  Americain,  i.  p.  242,  Mtiller, 
Amer.  Urreligionen,  p.  51,  and  Squier,  Serpent  Symbol  in  Ame 
rica,  p.  111.  This  is  a  striking  instance  of  the  confusion  of  ideas 
introduced  by  false  systems  of  study,  and  also  of  the  considerable 
misapprehension  of  American  mythology  which  has  hitherto 
prevailed. 


142    MYTHS  OF  WATER,  FIRE,  AND  THUNDER-STORM. 

northern  Athapascas  omit  its  action  altogether.  The 
Algonkins  by  no  means  imagined  it  the  highest  god, 
and  at  most  but  one  of  his  emblems.1  That  it  often 
appears  in  their  prayers  is  true,  but  this  arose  from 
the  fact  that  in  many  of  their  dialects,  as  well  as  in 
the  language  of  the  Mayas  and  others,  the  word  for 
heaven  or  sky  was  identical  with  that  for  sun,  and 
the  former,  as  I  have  shown,  was  the  supposed  abode 
of  deity,  "  the  wigwam  of  the  Great  Spirit."2  The 
alleged  sun  worship  of  the  Cherokees  rests  on  testi 
mony  modern,  doubtful,  and  unsupported.3  In  North 
America  the  Natchez  alone  were  avowed  worshippers 
of  this  luminary.  Yet  they  adored  it  under  the  name 
Great  Fire  (wah  sil),  clearly  pointing  to  a  prior  ado 
ration  of  that  element.  The  heliolatry  organized 
principally  for  political  ends  by  the  Incas  of  Peru, 
stands  alone  in  the  religions  of  the  red  race.  Those 
shrewd  legislators  at  an  early  date  officially  an 
nounced  that  Inti,  the  sun,  their  own  elder  brother, 
was  ruler  of  the  cohorts  of  heaven  by  like  divine 
right  that  they  were  of  the  four  corners  of  the  earth. 
This  scheme  ignominiously  failed,  as  every  attempt 
to  fetter  the  liberty  of  conscience  must  and  should. 
The  later  Incas  finally  indulged  publicly  in  heterodox 
remarks,  and  compromised  the  matter  by  acknow- 

1  La  Hontan,  Voy.  dans  VAmer.  Sept.,  p.  ii.  127;   Eel.  Now). 
France,  1637,  p.  54. 

2  Copway,  Trad.  Hist,  of  the  Ojibway  Nation,  p.  165.    Kesuch 
in  Algonkin  signifies  both  sky  and  sun  (Duponceau,  Langues  de 
VAmer.  du  Nord,  p.  312).     So  apparently  does  kin  in  the  Maya. 

3  Payne's  manuscripts  quoted  by  Mr.  Squier  in  his   Serpent 
Symbol  in  America  were  compiled  within  this  century,  and  from 
the  extracts  given  can  be  of  no  great  value. 


THE  PERPETUAL  FIRE.  143 

lodging  a  divinity  superior  even  to  their  brother,  the 
sun,  as  we  have  seen  in  a  previous  chapter. 

The  myths  of  creation  never  represent  the  sun  as 
anterior  to  the  world,  but  as  manufactured  by  the 
"  old  people"  (Navajos),  as  kindled  and  set  going 
by  the  first  of  men  (Algankins),  or  as  freed  from 
some  cave  by  a  kindly  deity  (Haitians).  It  is  always 
spoken  of  as  a  fire;  only  in  Peru  and  Mexico  had  the 
precession  of  the  equinoxes  been  observed,  and  with 
out  danger  of  error  we  can  merge  the  consideration 
of  its  worship  almost  altogether  in  that  of  this  ele 
ment.1 

The  institutions  of  a  perpetual  fire,  of  obtaining 
new  fire,  and  of  burning  the  dead,  prevailed  exten 
sively  in  the  New  World.  In  the  present  discussion 
the  origin  of  such  practices,  rather  than  the  ceremo 
nies  with  which  they  were  attended,  have  an  interest. 
The  savage  knew  that  fire  was  necessary  to  his  life. 
Were  it  lost,  he  justly  foreboded  dire  calamities  and 
the  ruin  of  his  race.  Therefore  at  stated  times  with 
due  solemnity  he  produced  it  anew  by  friction  or  the 
flint,  or  else  was  careful  to  keep  one  fire  constantly 
alive.  These  not  unwise  precautions  soon  fell  to 
mere  superstitions.  If  the  Aztec  priest  at  the  stated 
time  failed  to  obtain  a  spark  from  his  pieces  of  wood, 
if  the  sacred  fire  by  chance  became  extinguished,  the 
end  of  the  world  or  the  destruction  of  mankind  was 
apprehended.  "  You  know  it  was  a  saying  among  our 

1  The  words  for  fire  and  sun  in  American  languages  are  usually 
from  distinct  roots,  but  besides  the  example  of  the  Natchez  I  may 
instance  to  the  contrary  the  Kolosch  of  British  America,  in  whose 
tongue  fire  is  kan,  sun,  kakan  (gake,  great),  and  the  Tezuque  of 
New  Mexico,  who  use  tah  for  both  sun  and  fire. 


144     MYTHS  OF  WATER,  FIRE,  AND  THUNDER-STORM. 

ancestors,"  said  an  Iroquois  chief  in  1753,  "that  when 
the  fire  at  Onondaga  goes  out,  we  shall  no  longer  be 
a  people."1  So  deeply  rooted  was  this  notion,  that 
the  Catholic  missionaries  in  New  Mexico  were  fain 
to  wink  at  it,  and  perform  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass 
in  the  same  building  where  the  flames  were  perpetu 
ally  burning,- that  were  not  to  be  allowed  to  die  until 
Montezuma  and  the  fabled  glories  of  ancient  Anahuac 
with  its  heathenism  should  return.2  Thus  fire  became 
the  type  of  life.  "  Know  that  the  life  in  your  body 
and  the  fire  on  your  hearth  are  one  and  the  same 
thing,  and  that  both  proceed  from  one  source,"  said 
a  Shawnee  prophet.3  Such  an  expression  was  wholly 
in  the  spirit  of  his  race.  The  greatest  feast  of  the 
Delawares  was  that  to  their  "grandfather,  the  fire."4 
"  Their  fire  burns  forever,"  was  the  Algonkin  figure 
of  speech  to  express  the  immortality  of  their  gods.5 
"The  ancient  God,  the  Father  and  Mother  of  all 
Gods,"  says  an  Aztec  prayer,  "  is  the  God  of  the  Fire 
which  is  in  the  centre  of  the  court  with  four  walls, 
and  which  is  covered  with  gleaming  feathers  like 
unto  wings;""  dark  sayings  of  the  priests,  referring 
to  the  glittering  lightning  fire  borne  from  the  four 
sides  of  the  earth. 

As  the  path  to  a  higher  life  hereafter,  the  burning 
of  the  dead  was  first  instituted.  It  was  a  privilege 
usually  confined  to  a  select  few.  Among  the  Algon- 

1  Doc.  Hist,  of  New  York,  ii.  p.  634. 

2  Emory,  MiWy  Reconnoissance  of  New  Mexico,  p.  30. 

3  Narrative  of  John  Tanner,  p.  161. 

4  Loskiel,  Ges.  der  Miss,  der  evang.  Briider,  p.  55. 

5  Nar.  of  John  Tanner,  p.  351 . 

6  Sahagun,  Hist.  Nueva  Espana,  lib.  vi.  cap.  4. 


FIRE  OF  THE  PASSIONS  145 

kin-Ottawas,  only  those  of  the  distinguished  totem 
of  the  Great  Hare,  among  the  Nicaraguans  none  but 
the  caciques,  among  the  Caribs  exclusively  the 
priestly  caste,  were  entitled  to  this  peculiar  honor.1 
The  first  gave  as  the  reason  for  such  an  exceptional 
custom,  that  the  members  of  such  an  illustrious  clan 
as  that  of  Michabo,  the  Great  Hare,  should  not  rot  in 
the  ground  as  common  folks,  but  rise  to  the  heavens 
on  the  flames  and  smoke.  Those  of  Nicaragua 
seemed  to  think  it  the  sole  path  to  immortality,  hold 
ing  that  only  such  as  offered  themselves  on  the  pyre 
of  their  chieftain  would  escape  annihilation  at  death;2 
and  the  tribes  of  upper  California  were  persuaded 
that  such  as  were  not  burned  at  death  were  liable  to 
be  transformed  into  the  lower  orders  of  brutes.3 
Strangely  enough,  we  thus  find  a  sort  of  baptism  by 
fire  deemed  essential  to  a  higher  life  beyond  the 
grave. 

Another  analogy  strengthened  the  symbolic  force 
of  fire  as  life.  This  is  that  which  exists  between  the 
sensation  of  warmth  and  those  passions  whose  phy 
siological  end  is  the  perpetuation  of  the  species.  We 
see  how  native  it  is  to  the  mind  from  such  coarse 
expressions  as  "hot  lust,"  "to  burn,"  "to  be  in  heat," 
"  stews,"  and  the  like,  figures  not  of  the  poetic,  but 
the  vulgar  tongue.  They  occur  in  all  languages,  and 
hint  how  readily  the  worship  of  fire  glided  into  that 
of  the  reproductive  principle,  into  extravagances  of 

1  Letts.  Edifiantes  et  Curieuses,  iv.  p.  104,  Oviedo ;  Hist,  du 
Nicaragua,  p.  49  ;  Gomara,  Hist,  del  Orinoco,  ii.  cap.  2. 

2  Oviedo,  Hist.   Gen.   de  las  Indias,  p.  16,  in  Barcia's  Hist. 
Prim. 

3  PresdVs  Message  and  Docs,  for  1851,  pt.  iii.  p.  506. 

10 


146     MYTHS  OF  WATER,  FIRE,  AND  THUNDER-STORM. 

chastity  and  lewdness,  into  the  shocking  orgies  of 
the  so-called  phallic  worship. 

Some  have  supposed  that  a  sexual  dualism  per 
vades  all  natural  religions,  and  this  too  has  been 
assumed  as  the  solution  of  all  their  myths.  It  has 
been  said  that  the  action  of  heat  upon  moisture,  of 
the  sun  on  the  waters,  the  mysteries  of  reproduction, 
and  the  satisfaction  of  the  sexual  instincts,  are  the 
unvarying  themes  of  primitive  mythology.  So  far 
as  the  red  race  is  concerned,  this  is  a  most  gratuitous 
assumption.  T h p.  jfogts__t'h n.t  Knvn  been  eagerly  col 
lated  by  Dulaure  and  others  to  bolster  such  a  detesta- 
bleH^eofy'jen.cI  themselyesfajrly;  to  nonsuch  inter 
pretation. 

THere  existed,  indeed,  a  worship  of  the  passions. 
Apparently  it  was  grafted  upon  or  rose  out  of  that  of 
fire  by  the  analogy  I  have  pointed  out.  Thus  the 
Mexican  god  of  fire  was  supposed  to  govern  the 
generative  proclivities,1  and  there  is  good  reason  to 
believe  that  the  sacred  fire  watched  by  unspotted 
virgins  among  the  Mayas  had  decidedly  such  a 
signification.  Certainly  it  was  so,  if  we  can  depend 
•upon  the  authority  of  a  ballad  translated  from  the 
original  immediately  after  the  conquest,  cited  by  the 
venerable  traveller  and  artist  Count  de  Waldeck. 
It  purports  to  be  from  the  lover  of  one  of  these 
vestals,  and  referring  to  her  occupation  asks  with  a 
fine  allusion  to  its  mystic  meaning — 

"  O  vierge,  quand  pourrai-je  te  posseder  pour  ma  compagne 

clierie  ? 

Combien  de  temps  faut-il  encore  que  tes  vocux  soient  ac- 
cornplis  ? 

1  Sahagun,  Ilist.  de  la  Nuem  JEspana,  L  cap.  13. 


THE  FIRE  OF  THE  PASSIONS.  147 

Dis-moi  le  jour  qui  doit  devancer  la  belle  nuit  ou  tons  deux, 
Alimenterons  le  feu  qui  nous  fit  naitre  et  que  nous  devons 
perpetuer."1 

There  is  a  brightaswell  as  a  dark  side  even  to 
suclTa  worship!  InMexico,  Peru,  aniT  Yucatan,  the 
women  wferw-atch'ed  the  flames  must  be  undoubted 
virgins ;  they  were  usually  of  noble  blood,  and  must 
vow  eternal  chastity,  or  at  least  were  free  to  none 
but  the  ruler  of  the  realm.  As  long  as  they  were 
consecrated  to  the  fire,  so  long  any  carnal  ardor  was 
degrading  to  their  lofty  duties.  The  sentiment  of 
shame^j2nj3_of  the  first  we  find  developed,  led  to  the 
belief  that  to  forego  fleshly  pleasures  was  a  meritorious 
sacrifice  in  the  eyes  of  the  gocJs^  ILL  Lhis  persuasion 
certain  of  the  Aztec  priests  practised  complete 
abscission  or  entire  discerption  of  the  virile  parts, 
and  a  mutilation  of  females  was  not  unknown  similar 
to  that  immemorially  a  custom  in  Egypt.2  Such 
enforced  celibacy  was,  however,  neither  common  nor 
popular.  Circumcision,  if  it  can  be  proven  to  have 
existed  among  the  red  race — and  though  there  are 
plenty  of  assertions  to  that  effect,  they  are  not  satis 
factory  to  an  anatomist — was  probably  a  symbolic 
renunciation  of  the  lusts  of  the  flesh.  The  same  cannot 

1  Voyage  Pittoresque  dans  le  Yucatan,  p.  49. 

2  Davila  Padilla,  Hist,  de  la  Prov.  de  Santiago  de  Mexico,  lib. 
ii.  cap.  88  (Brusselas,  1625)  ;  Palacios,  Des.  de  Guatemala,  p.  40  ; 
Garcia,  Or.  de  los  Indies,  p.  124.     To  such  an  extent  did  the 
priests  of  the  Algonkin  tribes  who  lived  near  Manhattan  Island 
carry  their  austerity,  such  uncompromising  celibates  were  they, 
that  it  is  said  on  authority  as  old  as  1624,  that  they  never  so 
much  as  partook  of  food  prepared  by  a  married  woman.     (Doc. 
Hist.  New  York,  iv.  p.  28.) 


148     MYTHS  OF  WATER,  FIRE,  AND  THUNDER-STORM. 

be  said  of  the  very  common  custom  with  the  Aztec 
race  of  anointing  their  idols  with  blood  drawn  from 
the  genitals,  the  tongue,  and  the  ears.  This  was 
simply  a  form  of  those  voluntary  scarifications,  uni 
versally  employed  to  mark  contrition  or  grief  by 
savage  tribes,  and  nowhere  more  in  vogue  than  with 
the  red  race. 

There  was  an  ancient  Christian  heresy  which  taught 
that  the  true  way  to  conquer  the  passions  was  to 
satiate  them,  and  therefore  preached  unbounded  licen 
tiousness.  Whether  this  agreeable  doctrine  was 
known  to  the  Indians  I  cannot  say,  but  it  is  certainly 
the  most  creditable  explanation  that  can  be  suggested 
for  the  miscellaneous  congress  which  very  often  termi 
nated  their  dances  and  ceremonies.  Such  orgies  were 
of  common  occurrence  among  the  Algonkins  and 
Iroquois  at  a  very  early  date,  and  are  often  mentioned 
in  the  Jesuit  Eelations ;  Venegas  describes  them  as 
frequent  among  the  tribes  of  Lower  California ;  and 
Oviedo  refers  to  certain  festivals  of  the  Nicaraguans, 
during  which  the  women  of  all  rank  extended  to 
whosoever  wished  just  such  privileges  as  the  matrons 
of  ancient  Babylon,  that  mother  of  harlots  and  all 
abominations,  used  to  grant  even  to  slaves  and  stran 
gers  in  the  temple  of  Melitta,  as  one  of  the  duties  of 
religion.  But  in  fact  there  is  no  ground  whatever  to 
invest  these  debauches  with  any  recondite  meaning. 
They  are  simply  indications  of  the  thorough  and 
utterlinTrrurin^^  the  race. 

And  alEiTTmbre  disgusting^proof  of  it  is  seen  in  the 
frequent  appearance  among  diverse  tribes  of  men 
dressed  as  women  and  yielding  themselves  to  inde- 


NO  PHALLIC  WORSHIP.  149 

scribable  vices.1  There  was  at  first  nothing  of  a 
religious  nature  in  such  exhibitions.  Lascivious 
priests  chose  at  times  to  invest  them  with  some  such 
meaning  for  their  own  sensual  gratification,  just  as 
in  Brazil  they  still  claim  thejuspnmas  noclis.2  The 
pretended  phallic  worship  of  the  Natchez  and  of 
Culhuacan,  cited  by  the  Abbe  Brasseur,  rests  on  no 
good  authority,  and  if  true,  is  like  that  of  the  Huas- 
tecas  of  Panuco,  nothing  but  an  unrestrained  and 
boundless  profligacy  which  it  were  an  absurdity  to 
call  a  religion.3  That  which  Mr.  Stephens  attempts 
to  show  existed  once  in  Yucatan,4  rests  entirely  by 
his  own  statement  on  a  fancied  resemblance  of  no 
value  whatever,  and  the  arguments  of  Lafitau  to  the 
same  effect  are  quite  insufficient.  There  is  a  decided 
indecency  in  the  remains  of  ancient  American  art, 
especially  in  Peru  (Meyen),  and  great  lubricity  in 
many  ceremonies,  but  the  proof  is  altogether  wanting 
to  bind  these  with  the  recognition  of  a  fecundating 
principle  throughout  nature,  or,  indeed,  to  suppose 
for  them  any  other  origin  than  the  promptings  of  an 
impure  fancy.  I  even  doubt  whether  they  often 
referred  to  fire  as  the  deity  of  sexual  love. 

By  a  flight  of  fancy  inspired  by  a  study  of  oriental 
mythology,  the  worship  of  the  reciprocal  principle 
in  America  has  been  connected  with  that  of  the  sun 
and  moon,  as  the  primitive  pair  from  whose  fecund 
union  all  creatures  proceeded.  It  is  sufficient  to  say 

1  Martins,    Von  dem  Rechtzustande  unter  den  Ureinwohnern 
Brasiliem,  p.  28,  gives  many  references. 
*  Id.  ibid.,  p.  61. 

3  Le  Lime  Sacre  des  Quiches,  Introd.,  pp.  clxi.,  clxix. 

4  Travels  in  Yucatan,  i.  p.  434. 


150    MYTHS  OF  WATER,  FIRE,  AND  THUNDER-STORM. 

if  such  a  myth  exists  among  the  Indians — which  is 
questionable — it  justifies  no  such  deduction;  that  the 
moon  is  often  mentioned  in  their  languages  merely  as 
the  " night  sun;"  and  that  in  such  important  stocks 
as  the  Iroquois,  Athapascas,  Cherokees,  and  Tupis, 
the  sun  is  said  to  be  a  feminine  noun;  while  the 
myths  represent  them  more  frequently  as  brother  and 
sister  than  as  man  and  wife;  nor  did  at  least  the 
northern  tribes  regard  the  sun  as  the  cause  of  fecun 
dity  in  nature  at  all,  but  solely  as  giving  light  and 
warmth.1 

In  contrast  to  this,  so  much  the  more  positive  was 
their  association  of  the  THUNDEK-STORM  as  that  which 
brings  both  warmth  and  rain  with  the  renewed  vernal 
life  of  vegetation.  The  impressive  phenomena  which 
characterize  it,  the  prodigious  noise,  the  awful  flash, 
the  portentous  gloom,  the  blast,  the  rain,  have  left  a 
profound  impression  on  the  myths  of  every  land. 
Fire  from  water,  warmth  and  moisture  from  the  de 
structive  breath  of  the  tempest,  this  was  the  riddle 
of  riddles  to  the  untutored  mind.  "Out  of  the  eater 
came  forth  meat,  out  of  the  strong  came  forth  sweet 
ness."  It  was  the  visible  synthesis  of  all  the  divine 
manifestations,  tne  winds,  the  waters,  and  the  flames. 

The  Dakotas  conceived  it  as  a  struggle  between  the 
god  of  waters  and  the  thunder  bird  for  the  command 
of  their  nation,2  and  as  a  bird,  one  of  those  which 
make  a  whirring  sound  with  their  wings,  the  turkey, 
the  pheasant,  or  the  nighthawk,  it  was  very  gene 
rally  depicted  by  their  neighbors,  the  Athapascas, 

1  Schoolcraft,  Ind.  Tribes,  v.  pp.  416,  417. 

2  Mrs.  Eastman,  Legends  of  the  Sioux,  p.  161. 


THE  THUNDER-STORM.  151 

Iroquois,  and  Algonkins.1  As  the  "herald  of  the 
summer  it  was  to  them  a  good  omen  and  a  friendly 
power.  It  was  the  voice  of  the  Great  Spirit  of  the 
four  winds  speaking  from  the  clouds  and  admonish 
ing  them  that  the  time  of  corn  planting  was  at  hand.2 
The  flames  kindled  by  the  lightning  were  of  a  sacred 
nature,  proper  to  be  employed  in  lighting  the  fires  of 
the  religious  rites,  but  on  no  account  to  be  profaned 
by  the  base  uses  of  daily  life.  When  the  flash  en 
tered  the  ground  it  scattered  in  all  directions  those 
stones,  such  as  the  flint,  which  betray  their  supernal 
origin  by  a  gleam  of  fire  when  struck.  These  were 
the  thunderbolts,  and  from  such  an  one,  significantly 
painted  red,  the  Dakotas  averred  their  race  had  pro 
ceeded.3  For  are  we  not  all  in  a  sense  indebted  for 
our  lives  to  fire?  "There  is  no  end  to  the  fancies 
entertained  by  the  Sioux  concerning  thunder,"  ob 
serves  Mrs.  Eastman.  They  typified  the  paradoxical 
nature  of  the  storm  under  the  character  of  the  giant 
Haokah.  To  him  cold  was  heat,  and  heat  cold ; 
when  sad  he  laughed,  when  merry  groaned ;  the  sides 
of  his  face  and  his  eyes  were  of  different  colors  and 
expressions ;  he  wore  horns  or  a  forked  headdress  to 
represent  the  lightning,  and  with  his  hands  he  hurled 
the  meteors.  His  manifestations  were  fourfold,  and 

1  Eel.  de  la  Nouv.  France,  1634,  p.  27 ;  Sclioolcraft,  Algic  Re 
searches,  ii.  p.  116 ;  Ind.  Tribes,  v.  p.  420. 

2  De  Smet,  Western  Missions,  p.  185 ;  Sclioolcraft,  Ind.  Tribes, 
i.  p.  319. 

3  Mrs.  Eastman,  Legends  of  the  Sioux,  p.  72.     By  another  le 
gend  they  claimed  that  their  first  ancestor  obtained  his  fire  from 
the  sparks  which  a  friendly  panther  struck  from  the  rocks  as  he 
scampered  up  a  stony  hill  (McCoy,  Hist,  of  Baptist  Indian  Mis 
sions,  p.  364). 


152     MYTHS  OF  WATER,  FIRE,  AND  THUNDER-STORM. 

one  of  the  four  winds  was  the  'drum- stick  he  used  to 
produce  the  thunder.1 

Omitting  many  others,  enough  that  the  sameness 
of  this  conception  is  illustrated  by  the  myth  of  Tupa, 
highest  god  and  first  man  of  the  Tupis  of  Brazil. 
During  his  incarnation,  he  taught  them  agriculture, 
gave  them  fire,  the  cane,  and  the  pisang,  and  now  in 
the  form  of  a  huge  bird  sweeps  over  the  heavens, 
watching  his  children  and  watering  their  crops,  ad 
monishing  them  of  his  presence  by  the  mighty  sound 
of  his  voice,  the  rustling  of  his  wings,  and  the  flash 
of  his  eye.  These  are  the  thunder,  the  lightning, 
and  the  roar  of* the  tempest.  He  is  depicted  with 
horns ;  he  was  one  of  four  brothers,  and  only  after  a 
desperate  struggle  did  he  drive  his  fraternal  rivals 
from  the  field.  In  his  worship,  the  priests  place 
pebbles  in  a  dry  gourd,  deck  it  with  feathers  and 
arrows,  and  'rattling  it  vigorously,  reproduce  in 
miniature  the  tremendous  drama  of  the  storm.2 

iAs  nations  rose  in  civilization  these  fancies  put  on 
a  more  complex  form  and  a  more  poetic  fulness. 
Throughout  the  realm  of  the  Incas  the  Peruvians  vene 
rated  as  creator  of  all  things,  maker  of  heaven  and 
earth,  and  ruler  of  the  firmament,  the  god  Ataguju. 
The  legend  was  that  from  him  proceeded  the  first  of 
mortals,  the  man  Guamansuri,  who  descended  to  the 
earth  and  there  seduced  the  sister  of  certain  Guache- 
mines,  rayless  ones,  or  Darklings,  who  then  possessed 
it.  For  this  crime  they  destroyed  him,  but  their  sister 
proved  pregnant,  and  died  in  her  labor,  giving  birth 

1  Mrs.  Eastman,  ubi  sup.,  p.  158;  Schoolcraft,  Ind.  Tribes,  iv. 
p.  645. 

2  Waitz,  Anthropologie,  iii.  p.  417  ;  Miiller,  Am.  Urrelig.,  p.  271. 


THE  MYTH  OF  CATEQUIL.  133 

to  two  eggs.  From  these  emerged  the  twin  brothers, 
Apocatequil  and  Piguerao.  The  former  was  the  more 
powerful.  By  touching  the  corpse  of  his  mother  he 
brought  her  to  life,  he  drove  off  and  slew  the  Gua- 
chemines,  and,  directed  by  Ataguju,  released  the  race 
of  Indians  from  the  soil  by  turning  it  up  with  a 
spade  of  gold.  For  this  reason  they  adored  him  as 
their  maker.  He  it  was,  they  thought,  who  produced 
the  thunder  and  the  lightning  by  hurling  stones  with 
his  sling ;  and  the  thunderbolts  that  fall,  said  they, 
are  his  children.  Few  villages  were  willing  to  be 
without  one  or  more  of  these.  They  were  in  appear 
ance  small,  round,  smooth  stones,  but  had  the  admi 
rable  properties  of  securing  fertility  to  the  fields,  pro 
tecting  from  lightning,  and,  by  a  transition  easy  to 
understand,  were  also  adored  as  gods  of  the  Fire,  as 
well  material  as  of  the  passions,  and  were  capable  of 
kindling  the  dangerous  flames  of-  desire  in  the  most 
frigid  bosom.  Therefore  they  were  in  great  esteem 
as  love  charms. 

Apocatequil's  statue  was  erected  on  the  mountains, 
with  that  of  his  mother  on  one  hand,  and  his  brother 
on  the  other.  "  He  was  Prince  of  Evil  and  the  most 
respected  god  of  the  Peruvians.  From  Quito  to 
Cuzco  not  an  Indian  but  would  give  all  he  possessed 
to  conciliate  him.  Five  priests,  two  stewards,  and  a 
crowd  of  slaves  served  his  image.  And  his  chief 
temple  was  surrounded  by  a  very  considerable  village 
whose  inhabitants  had  no  other  occupation  than  to 
wait  on  him."  In  memory  of  these  brothers,  twins  in 
Peru  were  deemed  always  sacred  to  the  lightning,  and 
when  a  woman  or  even  a  llama  brought  them  forth, 
a  fast  was  held  and  sacrifices  offered  to  the  two  pris- 


154     MYTHS  OF  WATER,  FIRE,  AND  THUNDER-STORM. 

tine  brothers,  with  a  chant  commencing:  A  chuc.hu 
cachiqui,  O  Thou  who  causest  twins,  words  mistaken 
by  the  Spaniards  for  the  name  of  a  deity.1 

Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  a  descendant  of  the  Incas, 
has  preserved  an  ancient  indigenous  poem  of  his 
nation,  presenting  the  storm  myth  in  a  different  form, 

1  On  the  myth  of  Catequil  see  particularly  the  Lettre  sur  les 
Superstitions  du  Perou,  p.  95  sqq.,  and  compare  Montesinos, 
Ancien  Perou,  chaps,  ii.,  xx.  The  letters  g  and  j  do  not  exist 
in  Quichua,  therefore  Ataguju  should  doubtless  read  Ata-chuchu, 
which  means  lord,  or  ruler  of  the  twins,  from  ati  root  of  atini, 
I  am  able,  I  control,  and  chuchu,  twins.  The  change  of  the  root 
ati  to  ata,  though  uncommon  in  Quichua,  occurs  also  in  ata- 
hualpa,  cock,  from  ati  and  hualpa,  fowl.  Apo-Catequil,  or  as 
given  by  Arriaga,  another  old  writer  on  Peruvian  idolatry, 
Apocatequilla,  I  take  to  be  properly  apu-ccatec-quilla,  which 
literally  means  chief  of  the  followers  of  the  moon.  Acosta  men 
tions  that  the  native  name  for  various  constellations  was  cata- 
chillay  or  catucliillay,  doubtless  corruptions  of  ccatec  quilla, 
literally  "following  the  moon."  Catequil,  therefore,  the  dark 
spirit  of  the  storm  rack,  was  also  appropriately  enough,  and 
perhaps  primarily,  lord  of  the  night  and  stars.  Piguerao,  where 
the  g  appears  again,  is  probably  a  compound  of  piscu,  bird,  and 
uira,  \vhite.  Guachemines  seems  clearly  the  word  huachi,  a  ray 
of  light  or  an  arrow,  with  the  negative  suffix  ymana,  thus  mean 
ing  rayless,  as  in  the  text,  or  ymana  may  mean  an  excess  as  well 
as  a  want  of  anything  beyond  what  is  natural,  which  would  give 
the  signification  "very  bright  shining."  (Holguin,  Arte  de  la 
Lengua  Quichua,  p.  106:  Cuzco,  1G07.)  Is  this  sister  of  theirs 
the  Dawn,  who,  as  in  the  Rig  Veda,  brings  forth  at  the  cost  of 
her  own  life  the  white  and  dark  twins,  the  Day  and  the  Night, 
the  latter  of  whom  drives  from  the  heavens  the  far-shooting 
arrows  of  light,  in  order  that  he  may  restore  his  mother  again  to 
life  ?  The  answer  may  for  the  present  be  deferred.  It  is  a  coin 
cidence  perhaps  worth  mentioning  that  the  Augustin  monk  who 
is  our  principal  authority  for  this  legend  mentions  two  other 
twin  deities,  Yamo  and  Yama,  whose  names  are  almost  identical 
with  the  twins  Yama  and  Yami  of  the  Yecla. 


PER  U  VI AN  MYTHS.  1 55 

which  as  undoubtedly  authentic  and  not  devoid  of 
poetic  beauty  I  translate,  preserving  as  much  as  pos 
sible  the  trochaic  tetrasyllable  verse  of  the  original 
Quichua : — 

"  Beauteous  princess, 

Lo,  thy  brother 

Breaks  thy  vessel 

Now  in  fragments. 

From  the  blow  come 

Thunder,  lightning, 

Strokes  of  lightning. 

And  thou,  princess, 

Tak'st  the  water, 

With  it  rainest, 

And  the  hail,  or 

Snow  dispensest. 

Viracocha, 

World  constructor, 

World  enliv'ner, 

To  this  office 

Thee  appointed, 

Thee  created."1 

In  this  pretty  waif  that  has  floated  down  to  us 
from  the  wreck  of  a  literature  now  forever  lost,  there 
is  more  than  one  point  to  attract  the  notice  of  the 
antiquary.  He  may  find  in  it  a  hint  to  decipher  those 
names  of  divinities  so  common  in  Peruvian  legends, 
Contici  and  Illatici.  Both  mean  "  the  Thunder  Vase," 
and  both  doubtless  refer  to  the  conception  here  dis 
played  of  the  phenomena  of  the  thunder-storm.2 

1  Hist,  des  Incas,  liv.  ii.  cap.  28,  and  corrected  in  Markham's 
Quichua  Grammar. 

2  The  latter  is  a  compound  of  tici  or  ticcu,  a  vase,  and  ylla,  the 
root  of  yllani,  to  shine,  yllapantac,  it  thunders  and  lightens. 
The  former  is  from  tici  and  cun  or  con,  whence  by  reduplication 
cun-un-un-an,  it  thunders.     From  cun  and  tura,  brother,  is  pro- 


156     MYTHS  OF  WATER,  FIRE,  AND  THUNDER-STORM. 

Again,  twice  in  this  poem  is  the  triple  nature  of 
the  storm  adverted  to.  This  is  observable  in  many 
of  the  religions  of  America.  It  constitutes  a  sort  of 
Trinity,  not  in  any  point  resembling  that  of  Chris 
tianity,  nor  yet  the  Trimurti  of  India,  but  the  only 
one  in  the  New  World  the  least  degree  authenticated, 
and  which,  as  half  seen  by  ignorant  monks,  has  caused 
its  due  amount  of  sterile  astonishment.  Thus,  in  the 
Quiche  legends  we  read:  "The  first  of  Hurakan  is 
the  lightning,  the  second  the  track  of  the  lightning, 
and  the  third  the  stroke  of  the  lightning ;  and  these 
three  are  Hurakan,  the  Heart  of  the  Sky."1  It  reap 
pears  with  characteristic  uniformity  of  outline  in 
Iroquois  mythology.  Heno,  the  thunder,  gathers  the 
clouds  and  pours  out  the  warm  rains.  Therefore  he 
was  the  patron  of  husbandry.  He  was  invoked  at 
seed  time  and  harvest ;  and  as  purveyor  of  nourish 
ment  he  was  addressed  as  grandfather,  and  his  wor 
shippers  styled  themselves  his  grandchildren.  He 
rode  through  the  heavens  on  the  clouds,  and  the 
thunderbolts  which  split  the  forest  trees  were  the 
stones  he  hurled  at  his  enemies.  Three  assistants  were 
assigned  him,  whose  names  have  unfortunately  not 
been  recorded,  and  whose  offices  were  apparently 
similar  to  those  of  the  three  companions  of  Hurakan.2 

So  also  the  Aztecs  supposed  that  Tlaloc,  god  of 

bably  derived  cuntur,  the  condor,  the  flying  thunder-cloud  being 
looked  upon  as  a  great  bird  also.  Dr.  Waitz  has  pointed  out 
that  the  Araucanians  call  by  the  title  con,  the  messenger  who 
summons  their  chieftains  to  a  general  council. 

1  Le  Livre  Sacre,  p.  9.     The  name  of  the  lightning  in  Quiche 
is  cak  ul  ha,  literally,  "fire  coming  from  water." 

2  Morgan,  League  of  the  Iroquois,  p.  158. 


THE  AMERICAN  TRINITY.  157 

rains  and  the  waters,  ruler  of  the  terrestrial  paradise 
and  the  season  of  summer,  manifested  himself  under 
the  three  attributes  of  the  flash,  the  thunderbolt,  and 
the  thunder.1 

Bat  this  conception  of  three  in  one  was  above  the 
comprehension  of  the  masses,  and  consequently  these 
deities  were  also  spoken  of  as  fourfold  in  nature, 
three  and  one.  Moreover,  as  has  already  been  pointed 
out,  the  thunder  god  was  usually  ruler  of  the  winds, 
and  thus  another  reason  for  his  quadruplicate  nature 
was  suggested.  Hurakan,  Haokah,  Tlaloc,  and  pro 
bably  Heno,  are  plural  as  well  as  singular  nouns,  and 
are  used  as  nominatives  to  verbs  in  both  numbers. 
Tlaloc  was  appealed  to  as  inhabiting  each  of  the  car 
dinal  points  and  every  mountain  top.  His  statue 
rested  on  a  square  stone  pedestal,  facing  the  east,  and 
had  in  one  hand  a  serpent  of  gold.  Eibbons  of  sil 
ver,  crossing  to  form  squares,  covered  the  robe,  and 
the  shield  was  composed  of  feathers  of  four  colors, 
yellow,  green,  red,  and  blue.  Before  it  was  a  vase 
containing  all  sorts  of  grain;  and  the  clouds  were 
called  his  companions,  the  winds  his  messengers.2 
As  elsewhere,  the  thunderbolts  were  believed  to  be 
flints,  and  thus,  as  the  emblem  of  fire  and  the  storm, 
this  stone  figures  conspicuously  in  their  myths. 
Tohil,  the  god  who  gave  the  Quiches  fire  by  shaking 
his  sandals,  was  represented  by  a  flint-stone.  He  is 
distinctly  said  to  be  the  same  as  Quetzalcoatl,  one  of 
whose  commonest  symbols  was  a  flint  (tecpatl).  Such 
a  stone,  in  the  beginning  of  things,  fell  from  heaven 

1  "El  rayo,  el relampago,  y  el trueno."     Gama,  Des.  de  las dos 
Piedras,  etc.,  ii.  p.  76 :  Mexico,  1832. 

2  Torquemacla,  Monarquia  Indiana,  lib.  vi.  cap.  23.     Gaina, 
ubi  sup.  ii.  76,  77. 


158     MYTHS  OF  WATER,  FIRE,  AND  THUNDER-STORM. 

to  earth,  and  broke  into  1600  pieces,  each  of  which 
sprang  up  a  god;1  an  ancient  legend,  which  shadows 
forth  the  subjection  of  all  things  to  him  who  gathers 
the  clouds  from  the  four  corners  of  the  earth,  who 
thunders  with  his  voice,  who  satisfies  with  his  rain 
"  the  desolate  and  waste  ground,  and  causes  the  tender 
herb  to  spring  forth."  This  is  the  germ  of  the  adora 
tion  of  stones  as  emblems  of  the  fecundating  rains. 
This  is  why,  for  example,  the  Navajos  use  as  their 
charm  for  rain  certain  long  round  stones,  which  they 
think  fall  from  the  cloud  when  it  thunders.2  c 

Mixcoatl,  the  Cloud  Serpent,  or  Iztac-Mixcoatl,  the 
White  or  Grleaming  Cloud  Serpent,  said  to  have  been 
the  only  divinity  of  the  ancient  Chichimecs,  held  in 
high  honor  by  the  Nahuas,  Mcaraguans,  and  Otomis, 
and  identical  with  Taras,  supreme  god  of  the  Taras- 
cos  and  Camaxtli,  god  of  the  Teo-Chichimecs,  is 
another  personification  of  the  thunder-storm.  To 
this  day  this  is  the  familiar  name  of  the  tropical  tor 
nado  in  the  Mexican  language.3  He  was  represented, 
like  Jove,  with  a  bundle  of  arrows  in  his  hand,  the 
thunderbolts.  Both  the  Nahuas  and  Tarascos  related 
legends  in  which  he  figured  as  father  of  the  race  of 
man.  Like  other  lords  of  the  lightning  he  was  wor 
shipped  as  the  dispenser  of  riches  and  the  patron  of 
traffic ;  and  in  Nicaragua  his  image  is  described  as 
being  "  engraved  stones,"4  probably  the  supposed  pro 
ducts  of  the  thunder. 

1  Torquemada,  ibid.,  lib.  vi.  cap.  41. 

2  Senate  Report  on  the  Indian  Tribes,  p.  358 :   Washington, 
1867. 

3  Brasseur,  Hist  du  Mexique,  i.  p.  201,  and  on  the  extent  of  his 
worship  Waitz,  Anthropol.,  iv.  p.  144. 

1  Oviedo,  Hist,  du  Nicaragua,  p.  47. 


CHAPTEE    VI. 

THE  SUPREME  GODS  OF  THE  BED  EACE. 

Analysis  of  American  culture  myths.  —  The  Manibozho  or  Michabo  of 
the  Algonkins  shown  to  be  an  impersonation  of  LIGHT,  a  hero  of  the 
Dawn,  and  their  highest  deity.  —  The  myths  of  loskeha  of  the  Iroquois, 
Viracocha  of  the  Peruvians,  and  Quetzalcoatl  of  the  Toltecs  essentially 
the  same  as  that  of  Michabo.  —  Other  examples.  —  Ante-Columbian 
prophecies  of  the  advent  of  a  white  race  from  the  east  as  conquerors.  — 
Rise  of  later  culture  myths  under  similar  forms. 


rPHE  philosopher  Machiavelli,  commenting  on  the 
books  of  Livy,  lays  it  down  as  a  general  truth 
that  every  form  and  reform  has  been  brought  about 
by  a  single  individual.  Since  a  remorseless  criticism 
has  shorn  so  many  heroes  of  their  laurels,  our  faith 
in  the  maxim  of  the  great  Florentine  ,wavers,  and  the 
suspicion  is  created  that  the  popular  fancy  which 
personifies  under  one  figure  every  social  revolution 
is  an  illusion.  It  springs  from  that  tendency  to  hero 
worship,  ineradicable  in  the  heart  of  the  race,  which 
leads  every  nation  to  have  an  ideal,  the  imagined 
author  of  its  prosperity,  the  father  of  his  country,  and 
the  focus  of  its  legends.  As  has  been  hinted,  history 
is  not  friendly  to  their  renown,  and  dissipates  them 
altogether  into  phantoms  of  the  brain,  or  sadly  dims 
the  lustre  of  their  fame.  Arthur,  bright  star  of 
chivalry,  dwindles  into  a  Welsh  subaltern;  the  Cid 
Campeador,  defender  of  the  faith,  sells  his  sword  as 


1GO          THE  SUPREME  GODS  OF  THE  RED  RACE. 

often  to  Moslem  as  to  Christian,  and  sells  it  ever; 
while  Siegfried  and  Feridun  vanish  into  nothings. 
r  As  elsewhere  the  world  over,  so  in  America  many 
tribes  had  to  tell  of  such  a  personage,  some  such 
august  character,  who  taught  them  what  they  knew, 
the  tillage  of  the  soil,  the  properties  of  plants,  the 
art  of  picture  writing,  the  secrets  of  magic ;  who 
founded  their  institutions  and  established  their  re 
ligions  ,  who  governed  them  long  with  glory  abroad 
and  peace  at  home ;  and  finally,  did  not  die,  but  like 
Frederick  Barbarossa,  Charlemagne,  King  Arthur, 
and  all  great  heroes,  vanished  mysteriously,  and  still 
lives  somewhere,  ready  at  the  right  moment  to  return 
to  his  beloved  people  and  lead  them  to  victory  and 
happiness.  Such. to  .the  Algonkins  was  Michabo  or 
Manibozho,  to  the  Iroquois  loskeha,  Wasi  to  the 
Cherokees,  Tamoi  to  the  Caribs ;  so  the  Mayas  had 
Zamna,  the  Toltecs  Quetzalcoatl,  the  Muyscas  Nem- 
queteba ;  such  among  the  Aymaras  was  Yiracocha, 
among  the  Mandans  Numock-muckenah,  and  among 
the  natives  of  the  Orinoko  Amalivaca ;  and  the  cata 
logue  could  be  extended  indefinitely. 

It  is  not  always  easy  to  pronounce  upon  these 
heroes,  whether  they  belong  to  history  or  mythology, 
their  nation's  poetry  or  its  prose.  In  arriving  at  a 
conclusion  we  must  remember  that  a  fiction  built  on 
an  idea  is  infinitely  more  tenacious  of  life  than  a 
story  founded  on  fact.  Further,  that  if  a  striking 
similarity  in  the  legends  of  two  such  heroes  be  dis 
covered  under  circumstances  which  forbid  the  thought 
that  one  was  derived  from  the  other,  then  both  are 
probably  mythical.  If  this  is  the  case  in  not  two  but 
in  half  a  dozen  instances,  then  the  probability  amounts 


THE  STORY  OF  MIC II ABO.  101 

to  a  certainty,  and  the  only  task  remaining  is  to  ex 
plain  such  narratives  on  consistent  mythological 
principles.  If  after  sifting  out  all  foreign  and  later 
traits,  it  appears  that  when  first  known  to  Europeans, 
these  heroes  were  assigned  all  the  attributes  of  high 
est  divinity,  were  the  imagined  creators  and  rulers  of 
the  world,  and  mightiest  of  spiritual  powers,  then 
their  position  must  be  set  far  higher  than  that  of 
deified  men.  They  must  be  accepted  as  the  supreme  j/ 
gods  of  the  red  race,  the  analogues  in  the  western 
continent  of  Jupiter,  Osiris,  and  Odin  in  the  eastern, 
and  whatever  opinions  contrary  to  this  may  have 
been  advanced  by  writers  and  travellers  must  be  set 
down  to  the  account  of  that  prevailing  ignorance  of 
American  mythology  which  has  fathered  so  many 
other  blunders.  To  solve  these  knotty  points  I  shall "") 
choose  for  analysis  the  culture  myths  of  the  Algon- 
kins,  the  Iroquois,  the  Toltecs  of  Mexico,  and  the  ; 
Aymaras  or  Peruvians,  guided  in  my  choice  by  the 
fact  that  these  four  families  are  the  best  known,  and, 
in  many  points  of  view,  the  most  important  on  the 
continent. 

From  the  remotest  wilds  of  the  northwest  to  the 

V 

coast  of  the  Atlantic,  from  the  southern  boundaries 
of  Carolina  to  the  cheerless  swamps  of  Hudson's  Bay, 
the  Algonkins  were  never  tired  of  gathering  around 
the  winter  fire  and  repeating  the  story  of  Manibozho 
or  Michabo,  the  Great  Hare.  With  entire  unanimity 
their  various  branches,  the  Powhatans  of  Virginia, 
the  Lenni  Lenape  of  the  Delaware,  the  warlike  hordes 
of  New  England,  the  Ottawas  of  the  far  north,  and 
the  western  tribes  perhaps  without  exception,  spoke 
of  "this  chimerical  beast,"  as  one  of  the  old  missiona- 
11 


162          THE  SUPREME  GODS  OF  THE  RED  RACE. 

ries  calls  it,  as  their  common  ancestor.  The  totem 
or  clan  which  bore  his  name  was  looked  up  to  with 
peculiar  respect.  In  many  of  the  tales  which  the 
whites  have  preserved  of  Micliabo  he  seems  half  a 
wizzard,  half  a  simpleton.  He  is  full  of  pranks  and 
wiles,  but  often  at  a  loss  for  a  meal  of  victuals ;  ever 
itching  to  try  his  arts  magic  on  great  beasts  and  often 
meeting  ludicrous  failures  therein ;  envious  of  the 
powers  of  others,  and  constantly  striving  to  outdo 
them  in  what  they  do  best ;  in  short,  little  more 
than  a  malicious  buffoon  delighting  in  practical 
jokes,  and  abusing  his  superhuman  powers  for 
selfish  and  ignoble  ends.  But  this  is  a  low,  modern, 
and  corrupt  version  of  the  character  of  Michabo, 
bearing  no  more  resemblance  to  his  real  and  ancient 
one  than  the  language  and  acts  of  our  Saviour  and 
the  apostles  in  the  coarse  Mystery  Plays  of  the  Mid 
dle  Ages  do  to  those  recorded  by  the  Evangelists. 

What  he  really  was  we  must  seek  in  the  accounts 
of  older  travellers,  in  the  invocations  of  the  jossa- 
keeds  or  prophets,  and  in  the  part  assigned  to  him  in 
the  solemn  mysteries  of  religion.  In  these  we  find 
him  portrayed  as  the  patron  and  founder  of  the  meda 
worship,1  the  inventor  of  picture  writing,  the  father 
and  guardian  of  their  nation,  the  ruler  of  the  winds 
even  the  maker  and  preserver  of  the  world  and 
creator  of  the  sun  and  moon.  From  a  grain  of  sand 
brought  from  the  bottom  of  the  primeval  ocean,  he 

1  The  meda  worship  is  the  ordinary  religions  ritual  of  the  Al- 
gonkins.  It  consists  chiefly  in  exhibitions  of  legerdemain,  and 
in  conjuring  and  exorcising  demons.  Ajossakeed  is  an  inspired 
prophet  who  derives  his  power  directly  from  the  higher  spirits, 
and  not  as  the  medawin,  by  instruction  and  practice. 


THE  DEEDS  OF  MICH  ADO.  1G3 

fashioned  the  habitable  land  and  set  it  floating  on 
the  waters,  till  it  grew  to  such  a  size  that  a  strong 
young  wolf,  running  constantly,  died  of  old  age 'ere 
he  reached  its  limits.  Under  the  name  Michabo  Ovi- 
saketchak,  the  Great  Hare  who  created  the  Earth,  he 
was  originally  the  highest  divinity  recognized  by 
them,  "  powerful  and  beneficent  beyond  all  others, 
maker  of  the  heavens  and  the  world."  He  was 
founder  of  the  medicine  hunt  in  which  ""after  appro 
priate  ceremonies  and  incantations  the  Indian  sleeps, 
and  Michabo  appears  to  him  in  a  dream,  and  tells 
him  where  he  may  readily  kill  game.  He  himself 
was  a  mighty  hunter  of  old;  one  of  his  footsteps 
measured  eight  leagues,  the  Great  Lakes  were  the 
beaver  dams  he  built,  and  when  the  cataracts  impeded 
his  progress  he  tore  them  away  with  his  hands. 
Attentively  watching  the  spider  spread  its  web  to 
trap  unwary  flies,  he  devised  the  art  of  knitting  nets 
to  catch  fish,  and  the  signs  and  charms  he  tested  and 
handed  down  to  his  descendants  are  of  marvellous 
efficacy  in  the  chase.  In  the  autumn,  in  "  the  moon 
of  the  falling  leaf,"  ere  he  composes  himself  to  his 
winter's  sleep,  he  fills  his  great  pipe  and  takes  a  god 
like  smoke.  The  balmy  clouds  float  over  the  hills 
and  woodlands,  filling  the  air  with  the  haze  of  the 
"Indian  summer." 

Sometimes  he  was  said  to  dwell  in  the  skies  with 
his  brother  the  snow,  or,  like  many  great  spirits,  to 
have  built  his  wigwam  in  the  far  north  on  some  floe 
of  ice  in  the  Arctic  Ocean,  while  the  Chipeways 
localized  his  birthplace  and  former  home  to  the 
Island  Michilimakinac  at  the  outlet  of  Lake  Superior. 
But  in  the  oldest  accounts  of  the  missionaries  he  was 


1G4          THE  SUPREME  GODS  OF  THE  RED  RACE. 

alleged  to  reside  toward  the  east,  antl  in  the  holy 
formula  of  the  meda  craft,  when  the  winds  are 
invoked  to  the  medicine  lodge,  the  east  is  summoned 
in  his  name,  the  door  opens  in  that  direction,  and 
there,  at  the  edge  of  the  earth,  where  the  sun  rises, 
on  the  shore  of  the  infinite  ocean  that  surrounds  the 
land,  he  has  his  house  and  sends  the  luminaries 
forth  on  their  daily  journies.1 

It  is  pass%ig  strange  that  such  an  insignificant 
/"  creature  as  the  rabbit  should  have  received  this  apo 
theosis.  No  explanation  of  it  in  the  least  satisfactory 
has  ever  been  offered.  Some  have  pointed  it  out  as 
a  senseless,  meaningless  brute  worship.  It  leads  to 
the  suspicion  that  there  may  lurk  here  one  of  those 
/  confusions  of  words  which  have  so  often  led  to  con 
fusion  of  ideas  in  mythology.  Manibozho,  Nani- 
bojou,  Missibizi,  Michabo,  Messou,  all  variations  of 
the  same  name  in  different  dialects  rendered  accord 
ing  to  different  orthographies,  scrutinize  them  closely 
as  we  may,  they  all  seem  compounded  according  to 
well  ascertained  laws  of  Algonkin  euphony  from  the 
words  corresponding  to  great  and  hare  or  rabbit,  or 
the  first  two  perhaps  from  spirit  and  hare  (miclii,  great, 
wabos,  hare,  manilo  wabos,  spirit  hare,  Chipeway 
dialect),  and  so  they  have  invariably  been  translated 
even  by  the  Indians  themselves.  But  looking  more 

1  For  these  particulars  see  the  Rel.  de  la  Nouv.  France,  1GG7, 
p.  12, 1670,  p.  93  ;  Charlevoix,  Journal  Historique,  p.  344  ;  School- 
craft,  Indian  Tribes,  v.  pp.  420  sqq.,  and  Alex.  Henry,  Travs. 
in  Canada  and  the  Lid.  Territories,  pp.  212  sqq.  These  are 
decidedly  the  best  references  of  the  many  that  could  be  furnished. 
Peter  Jones'  History  of  the  Ojibway  Indians,  p.  35,  may  also  be 
consulted. 


THE  EA  ST  IN  MYTIIOL  OGY.  1 05 

narrowly  at  the  second  member  of  the  word,  it  is 
clearly  capable  of  another  and  very  different  inter 
pretation,  of  an  interpretation  which  discloses  at 
once  the  origin  and  the  secret  meaning  of  the  whole 
story  of  Michabo,  in  the  light  of  which  it  appears 
no  longer  the  incoherent  fable  of  savages,  but  a  true 
myth,  instinct  with  nature,  pregnant  with  matter,  no 
wise  inferior  to  those  which  fascinate  in  the  chants 
of  the  Eig  Yeda,  or  the  weird  pages  of  the  Edda. 

On  a  previous  page  I  have  emphasized  with  what 
might  have  seemed  superfluous  force,  how  prominent 
in  primitive  mythology  is  the  east,  the  source  of  the 
morning,  the  day-spring  on  high,  the  cardinal  point 
which  determines  and  controls  all  others.  But  I  did 
not  lay  as  much  stress  on  it  as  others  have.  "The 
whole  theogony  and  philosophy  of  the  ancient 
world,"  says  Max  Miiller,  "  centred  in  the  Dawn, 
the  mother  of  the  bright  gods,  of  the  Sun  in  his 
various  aspects,  of  the  morn,  the  clay,  the  spring ; 
herself  the  brilliant  image  and  visage  of  immortality."1 
Now  it  appears  on  attentively  examining  the  Algon- 
kin  root  ivab,  that  it  gives  rise  to  words  of  very 
diverse  meaning,  that  like  many  others  in  all  lan 
guages  while  presenting  but  one  form  it  represents  ideas 
of  wholly  unlike  origin  and  application,  that  in  fact 
there  are  two  distinct  roots  having  this  sound.  One 
is  the  initial  syllable  of  the  word  translated  hare  or 
rabbit,  but  the  other  means  white,  and  from  it  is 
derived  the  words  for  the  east,  the  dawn,  the  light, 
the  day,  and  the  morning.2  Beyond  a  doubt  this  is 

1  Science  of  Language,  Second  Series,  p.  518. 

2  Dialectic  forms  in  Algonkin  for  white,  are  wabi,  wape,  wompi, 
icaubish,  oppai;  for  morning,  wapan,  wapaneh,  opah  ;  for  east, 


1G6          TEE  SUPREME  GODS  OF  THE  RED  RACE. 

the  compound  in  the  names  Miohabo  and  Manibozho 
which  therefore  mean  the  Great  Light,  the  Spirit  of 
Light,  of  the  Dawn,  or  the  East,  and  in  the  literal 
sense  of  the  word  the  Great  White  One,  as  indeed  he 
has  sometimes  been  called. 

In  this  sense  all  the  ancient  and  authentic  myths 
(concerning  him  are  plain  and  full  of  meaning.  They 
divide  themselves  into  two  distinct  cycles.  In  the 
one  Michabo  is  the  spirit  of  light  who  dispels  the 
darkness;  in  the  other  as  chief  of  the  cardinal  points 
he  is  lord  of  the  winds,  prince  of  the  powers  of  the 
air,  whose  voice  is  the  thunder,  whose  weapon  the 
lightning,  the  supreme  figure  in  the  encounter  of  the 
air  currents,  in  the  unending  conflict  which  the  Dako- 
tas  described  as  waged  by  the  waters  and  the  winds. 

In  the  first  he  is  grandson  of  the  moon,  his  father 
is  the  West  Wind,  and  his  mother,  a  maiden,  dies  in 
giving  him  birth  at  the  moment  of  conception.  For 
the  moon  is  the  goddess  of  night,  the  Dawn  is  her 
daughter,  who  brings  forth  the  morning  and  perishes 
herself  in  the  act,  and  the  West,  the  spirit  of  dark 
ness  as  the  East  is  of  light,  precedes  and  as  it  were 
begets  the  latter  as  the  evening  does  the  morning. 
Straightway,  however,  continues  the  legend,  the  son 
sought  the  unnatural  father  to  revenge  the  death  of 
his  mother,  and  then  commenced  a  long  and  desperate 

wapa,  waubun,  waubamo  ;  for  dawn,  wapa,  waubun ;  for  day, 
wompan,  oppan  ;  for  light,  oppung ;  and  many  others  similar. 
In  the  Abnaki  dialect,  wanbighen,  it  is  white,  is  the  customary 
idiom  to  express  the  breaking  of  the  day  (Vetromile,  The  Ab- 
nakis  and  their  History,  p.  27:  New  York,  I860).  The  loss  in 
composition  of  the  vowel  sound  represented  by  the  English  w, 
and  in  the  French  writers  by  the  figure  8,  is  supported  by  frequent 
analogy. 


THE  FIRST  FOUR  BROTHERS.  167 

struggle.  "It  began  on  the  mountains.  The  West 
•was  forced  to  give  ground.  Manabozho  drove  him 
across  rivers  and  over  mountains  and  lakes,  and  at 
last  he  canie  to  the  brink  of  this  world.  '  Hold,'  cried 
he,  '  my  son,  you  know  my  power  and  that  it  is  im 
possible  to  kill  me.'  m  What  is  this  but  the  diurnal 
combat  of  light  and  darkness,  carried  on  from  what 
time  "  the  jocund  morn  stands  tiptoe  on  the  misty 
mountain  tops,"  across  the  wide  world  to  the  sunset, 
the  struggle  that  knows  no  end,  for  both  the  oppo 
nents  are  immortal  ? 

In  the  second,  and  evidently  to  the  native  mind 
more  important  cycle  of  legends,  he  was  represented 
as  one  of  four  brothers,  the  North,  the  South,  the 
East,  and  the  West,  all  born  at  a  birth,  whose  mother 
died  in  ushering  them  into  the  world;2  for  hardly 
has  the  kindling  orient  served  to  fix  the  cardinal 
points  than  it  is  lost  and  dies  in  the  advancing  day. 
Yet  it  is  clear  that  he  was  something  more  than  a 
personification  of  the  east  or  the  east  wind,  for  it  is 
repeatedly  said  that  it  was  he  who  assigned  their 
duties  to  all  the  winds,  to  that  of  the  east  as  well  as 
the  others.  This  is  a  blending  of  his  two  charac 
ters.  Here  too  his  life  is  a  battle.  No  longer  with 
his  father,  indeed,  but  with  his  brother  Chakekena- 

1  Schoolcraft,  Algic  Researches,  i.  pp.  135-142. 

2  The  names  of  the  four  brothers,  Wabun,  Kabun,    Kabibo- 
nokka,  and  Shawano,  express  in  Algonkin  both  the   cardinal 
points  and  the  winds  which  blow  from  them.     In  another  ver 
sion  of  the  legend,  first  reported  by  Father  De  Smet  and  quoted 
by  Schoolcraft  without  acknowledgment,  they  are  Nanaboojoo, 
Chipiapoos,  Wabosso,  and  Chakekenapok.     See  for  the  support 
of  the  text,  Schoolcraft,  Algic  Res.,  ii.  p.  214;  De  Smet,  Oregon 
Missions,  p.  347. 


168          THE  SUPREME  GODS  OF  THE  RED  RACE. 

pok,  the  flint-stone,  whom  he  broke  in  pieces  and 
scattered  over  the  land,  and  changed  his  entrails  into 
fruitful  vines.  The  conflict  was  long  and  terrible. 
The  face  of  nature  was  desolated  as  by  a  tornado, 
and  the'gigantic  boulders  and  loose  rocks  found  on  the 
prairies  are  the  missiles  hurled  by  the  mighty  com 
batants.  Or  else  his  foe  was  the  glittering  prince  of 
serpents  whose  abode  was  the  lake;  or  was  the 
shining  Manito  whose  home  was  guarded  by  fiery 
serpents  and  a  deep  sea ;  or  was  the  great  king  of 
fishes;  all  symbols  of  the  atmospheric  waters,  all 
figurative  descriptions  of  the  wars  of  the  elements. 
In  these  affrays  the  thunder  and  lightning  are  at  his 
command,  and  with  them  he  destroys  his  enemies. 
For  this  reason  the  Chipeway  pictography  represents 
him  brandishing  a  rattlesnake,  the  symbol  of  the 
electric  flash,1  and  sometimes  they  called  him  the 
Northwest  Wind,  which  in  the  region  they  inhabit 
usually  brings  the  thunder-storms. 

As  ruler  of  the  winds  he  was,  like  Quetzalcoatl, 
father  and  protector  of  all  species  of  birds,  their 
symbols.2  He  was  patron  of  hunters,  for  their  course 
is  guided  by  the  cardinal  points.  Therefore,  when 
the  medicine  hunt  had  been  successful,  the  prescribed 
sign  of  gratitude  to  him  was  to  scatter  a  handful  of 
the  animal's  blood  toward  each  of  these.3  As  day 
light  brings  vision,  and  to  see  is  to  know,  it  was  no 
fable  that  gave  him  as  the  author  of  their  arts,  their 
wisdom,  and  their  institutions. 

1  Narrative  of  John  Tanner,  p.  351. 

2  Schoolcraft,  Algic  lies.,  i.  p.  216. 

'3  Narrative  of  John  Tanner,  p.  354. 


IRQ  QUO  IS  TRADITIONS.  169 

In  effect,  his  story  is  a  world- wide  truth,  veiled 
under  a  thin  garb  of  fancy.  It  is  but  a  variation  of 
that  narrative  which  every  race  has  to  tell,  out  of 
gratitude  to  that  beneficent  Father  who  everywhere 
has  cared  for  His  children.  Michabo,  giver  of  life 
and  light,  creator  and  preserver,  is  no  apotheosis  of  a 
prudent  chieftain,  still  less  the  fabrication  of  an  idle 
fancy  or  a  designing  priestcraft,  but  in  origin,  deeds, 
and  name  the  not  unworthy  personification  of  the 
purest  conceptions  they  possessed  concerning  the 
Father  of  All.  To  Him  at  early  dawn  the  Indian 
stretched  forth  his  hands  in  prayer ;  and  to  the  sky 
or  the  sun  as  his  homes,  he  first  pointed  the  pipe  in 
his  ceremonies,  rites  often  misinterpreted  by  travel 
lers  as  indicative  of  sun  worship.  As  later  observers 
tell  us  to  this  day  the  Algonkin  prophet  builds  the 
medicine  lodge  to  face  the  sunrise,  and  in  the  name 
of  Michabo,  who  there  has  his  home,  summons  the 
spirits  of  the  four  quarters  of  the  world  and  Gizhi- 
gooke,  the  day  maker,  to  come  to  his  fire  and  disclose 
the  hidden  things  of  the  distant  and  the  future :  so 
the  earliest  explorers  relate  that  when  they  asked  the 
native  priests  who  it  was  they  invoked,  what  demons 
or  familiars,  the  invariable  reply  was,  "the  Kichi- 
gouai,  the  genii  of  light,  those  who  make  the  day."1 

Our  authorities  on  Iroquois  traditions,  though  nu 
merous  enough,  are  not  so  satisfactory.  The  best, 
perhaps,  is  Father  Brebeuf,  a  Jesuit  missionary,  who 
resided  among  the  Hurons  in  1626.  Their  culture 
myth,  which  he  has  recorded,  is  strikingly  similar  to 

1  Compare  the  Eel.  de  la  Nouv.  France,  1634  p.  14,  1637,  p.  46, 
with  Schoolcraft,  Ind.  Tribes,  v.  p.  419.  Kictiigouaiis  the  same 
word  as  Gizliigooke,  according  to  a  different  orthography. 


170          THE  SUPREME  GODS  OF  THE  RED  RACE. 

that  of  the  Algonkins.  Two  brothers  appear  in  it. 
loskeha  and  Tawiscara,  names  which  find  their  mean 
ing  in  the  Oneida  dialect  as  the  White  one  and  the 
Dark  one.1  They  are  twins,  born  of  a  virgin  mother, 
who  died  in  giving  them  life.  Their  grandmother 
was  the  moon,  called  by  the  Hurons  Ataensic,  a  word 
which  signifies  literally  she  bathes  herself,  and  which, 
in  the  opinion  of  Father  Bruyas,  a  most  competent 
authority,  is  derived  from  the  word  for  water.2 

The  brothers  quarrelled,  and  finally  came  to 
blows ;  the  former  using  the  horns  of  a  stag,  the  lat 
ter  the  wild  rose.  He  of  the  weaker  weapon  was 
very  naturally  discomfited  and  sorely  wounded. 
Fleeing  for  life,  the  blood  gashed  from  him  at  every 
step,  and  as  it  fell  turned  into  flint-stones.  The  victor 
returned  to  his  grandmother,  and  established  his  lodge 

• 
1  The  names  ISskeJia  and  TaSiscara  I  venture  to  identify  with 

the  Oneida  owisske  or  owiska,  white,  and  tetiucalas  (tyokaras, 
tewhgarlars,  Mohawk),  dark  or  darkness.  The  prefix  i  to  owisske 
is  the  impersonal  third  person  singular ;  the  suffix  ha  gives  a 
future  sense,  so  that  i-owisske-7ia  or  iouskeha  means  "it  is  going 
to  become  white. ' '  Brebeuf  gives  a  similar  example  of  gaon,  old  ; 
a-gaon-ha,  il  va  devenir  meux  (Rel.  Nouv.  France,  1636,  p.  99). 
But  "it  is  going  to  become  white,"  meant  to  the  Iroquois  that 
the  dawn  was  about  to  appear,  just  as  wanbighen,  it  is  white,  did 
to  the  Abnakis  (see  note  on  page  166),  and  as  the  Eskimos  say, 
kau  ma  wok,  it  is  white,  to  express  that  it  is  daylight  (Richard 
son's  Vocab.  of  Labrador  Eskimo  in  his  Arctic  Expedition). 
Therefore,  that  loskeha  is  an  impersonation  of  the  light  of  the 
dawn  admits  of  no  dispute. 

*  The  orthography  of  Brebeuf  is  aataentsic.  This  may  be 
analyzed  as  follows  :  root  aouen,  water  ;  prefix  at,  il  y  a  quelque 
chose  la  dedans;  ataouen,  se  baigner ;  from  which  comes  the 
form  ataouensere.  (See  Bruyas,  Rad.  Verb.  Iroguceor.,  pp.  30,  31.) 
Here  again  the  mythological  role  of  the  moon  as  the  goddess  of 
water  comes  distinctly  to  light. 


THE  MYTH  OF  IOSKEHA.  171 

in  the  far  east,  on  the  borders  of  the  great  ocean, 
whence  the  sun  comes.  In  time  he  became  the  father 
of  mankind,  and  special  guardian  of  the  Iroquois. 
The  earth  was  at  first  arid  and  sterile,  but  he  de 
stroyed  the  gigantic  frog  which  had  swallowed  all 
the  waters,  and  guided  the  torrents  into  smooth 
streams  and  lakes.1  The  woods  he  stocked  with 
game ;  and  having  learned  from  the  great  tortoise, 
who  supports  the  world,  how  to  make  fire,  taught  his 
children,  the  Indians,  this  indispensable  art.  He  it 
was  who  watched  and  watered  their  crops;  and,  in 
deed,  without  his  aid,  says  the  old  missionary,  quite 
out  of  patience  with  such  puerilities,  "they  think 
they  could  not  boil  a  pot."  Sometimes  they  spoke 
of  him  as  the  sun,  but  this  only  figuratively.2 

From  other  writers  of  early  date  we  learn  that  the 
essential  outlines  of  this  myth  were  received  by  the 
Tuscaroras  and  the  Mohawks,  and  as  the  proper 
names  of  the  two  brothers  are  in  the  Oneida  dialect, 
we  cannot  err  in  considering  this  the  national  legend 
of  the  Iroquois  stock.  There  is  strong  likelihood 
that  the  Taronhiawagon,  he  who  comes  from  the  Sky, 
of  the  Onondagas,  who  was  their  supreme  God,  who 
spoke  to  them  in  dreams,  and  in  whose  honor  the 
chief  festival  of  their  calendar  was  celebrated  about 
the  winter  solstice,  was,  in  fact,  loskeha  under  an- 

1  This  offers  an  instance  of  the  uniformity  which  prevailed  in 
symbolism  in  the  New  World.     The  Aztecs  adored  the  goddess 
of  water  under  the  figure  of  a  frog  carved  from  a  single  emerald  ; 
or  of  human  form,  but  holding  in  her  hand  the  leaf  of  a  water 
lily  ornamented  with  frogs.     (Brasseur,  Hist,  du  Nexique,  i.  p. 
324.) 

2  Bel  de  la  Nouv.  France,  1636,  p.  101. 


172          TILE  SUPREME  GODS  OF  THE  RED  RACE. 

other  name.1  As  to  the  legend  of  the  Good  and  Bad 
Minds  given  by  Cusic,  to  which  I  have  referred  in  a 
previous  chapter,  and  the  later  and  wholly  spurious 
myth  of  Hiawatha,  first  made  public  by  Mr.  Clark  in 
his  History  of  Onondaga  (1849),  and  which,  in  the 
graceful  poem  of  Longfellow,  is  now  familiar  to  the 
world,  they  are  but  pale  and  incorrect  reflections  of 
the  early  native  traditions. 

So    strong  is  the   resemblance  loskeha   bears  to 

f  Michabo,  that  what  has  been  said  in  explanation  of 

\  the  latter  will  be  sufficient  for  both.     Yet  I  do  not 

I  imagine  that  the  one  was  copied  or  borrowed  from 

/  the  other.     "We  cannot  be  too  cautious  in  adopting 

\    such  a  conclusion.     The  two  nations  were  remote  in 

/    everything  but  geographical  position.     I  call  to  mind 

I     another  similar  myth.     In  it  a  mother  is  also  said  to 

/      have  brought  forth  twins,  or  a  pair  of  twins,  and  to 

have  paid  for  them  with  her  life.     Again  the  one  is 

described  as  the  bright,  the  other  as  the  dark  twin ; 

again  it  is  said  that  they  struggled  one  with  the  other 

for  the  mastery.    Scholars,  likewise,  have  interpreted 

the  mother  to  mean  the  Dawn,  the  twins  either  Light 

and  Darkness,  or  the  Four  Winds.     Yet  this  is  not 

Algonkin  theology ;  nor  is  it  at  all  related  to  that  of  the 

Iroquois.     It  is  the  story  of  Sarama  in  the  Rig  Veda, 

and  was  written  in  Sanscrit,  under  the  shadow  of  the 

Himalayas,  centuries  before  Horner. 

Such  uniformity  points  not  to  a  common  source  in 

1  Eel.  de  la  Nouv.  France,  1671,  p.  17.  Cusic  spells  it  Taren- 
yawagon,  and  translates  it  Holder  of  the  Heavens.  But  the  name 
is  evidently  a  compound  of  garonhia,  sky,  softened  in  the  Onon 
daga  dialect  to  taronMa  (see  Gallatin's  Vocabs.  under  the  word 
sky),  and  wagin,  I  come. 


GOD  IS  LIGHT.  173 

history,  but  in  psychology.  Man,  chiefly  cognizant 
of  his  soul  through  his  senses,  thought  with  an  awful 
horror  of  the  night  which  deprived  him  of  the  use  of 
one  and  foreshadowed  the  loss  of  all.  Therefore  light 
and  life  were  to  him  synonymous ;  therefore  all  reli 
gions  promise  to  lead 

"From  night  to  light, 
From  night  to  heavenly  light ;" 

therefore  He  who  rescues  is  ever  the  Light  of  the 
World ;  therefore  it  is  said  "  to  the  upright  ariseth 
light  in  darkness;"  therefore  everywhere  the  kind 
ling  East,  the  pale  Dawn,  is  the  embodiment  of  his 
hopes  and  the  centre  of  his  reminiscences.  Who 
shall  say  that  his  instinct  led  him  here  astray?  For 
is  not,  in  fact,  all  life  dependent  on  light?  Do  not 
all  those  marvellous  and  subtle  forces  known  to  the 
older  chemists  as  the  imponderable  elements,  without 
which  not  even  the  inorganic  crystal  is  possible,  pro 
ceed  from  the  rays  of  light?  Let  us  beware  of  that 
shallow  science  so  ready  to  shout  Eureka,  and  reve 
rently  acknowledge  a  mysterious  intuition  here  dis 
played  which  joins  with  the  latest  conquests  of  the 
human  mind  to  repeat  and  emphasize  that  message 
which  the  Evangelist  heard  of  the  Spirit  and  declared 
unto  men,  that  "God  is  Light."1 

1  fo  ©so?  <£*.'?  es-n,  The  First  Epistle  General  of  John,  i.  5.  In 
curious  analogy  to  these  myths  is  that  of  the  Eskimos  of  Green 
land.  In  the  beginning,  they  relate,  were  two  brothers,  one  of 
whom  said :  "There  shall  be  night  and  there  shall  be  day,  and 
men  shall  die,  one  after  another."  But  the  second  said,  "  There 
shall  be  no  day,  but  only  night  all  the  time,  and  men  shall  live 
forever."  They  had  a  long  struggle,  but  here  once  more  he  who 
loved  darkness  rather  than  light  was  worsted,  and  the  day 


174          THE  SUPREME  GODS  OF  THE  RED  RACE. 

Both  these  heroes,  let  it  be  observed,  live  in  the 
uttermost  east;  both  are  the  mythical  fathers  of  the 
race.  To  the  east,  therefore,  should  these  nations 
have  pointed  as  their  original  dwelling  place.  This 
they  did  in  spite  of  history.  Cusic,  who  takes  up  the 
story  of  the  Iroquois  a  thousand  years  before  the 
Christian  era,  locates  them  first  in  the  most  eastern 
region  they  ever  possessed.  While  the  Algonkins 
with  one  voice  called  those  of  their  tribes  living 
nearest  the  rising  sun  Abnakis,  our  ancestors  at  the 
east,  or  at  the  dawn;  literally  our  white  ancestors.1 
I  designedly  emphasize  this  literal  rendering.  It 
reminds  one  of  the  white  twin  of  Iroquois  legend, 
and  illustrates  how  the  color  white  came  to  be  inti 
mately  associated  with  the  morning  light  and  its 
beneficent  effects.  Moreover  color  has  a  specific 
effect  on  the  mind;  there  is  a  music  to  the  eye  as 
well  as  to  the  ear;  and  white,  which  holds  all  hues 
in  itself,  disposes  the  soul,  to  all  pleasant  and  elevat 
ing  emotions.2  Not  fashion  alone  bids  the  bride 
wreathe  her  brow  with  orange  flowers,  nor  was  it  a 
mere  figure  of  speech  that  led  the  inspired  poet  to 
call  his  love  "fairest  among  women,"  and  to  prophecy 
a  Messiah  "fairer  than  the  children  of  men,"  fulfilled 

triumphed.  (Nachrichten  von  Gronland  aus  einem  Tagebuche 
vom  Bischof  Paul  Egede,  p.  157:  Kopenliagen,  1790.  The  date 
of  the  entry  is  1738.) 

1  I  accept  without  hesitation  the  derivation  of  this  word,  pro 
posed  and  defended  by  that  accomplished  Algonkin  scholar,  the 
Rev.  Eugene  Vetromile,  from  wanb,  white  or  east,  and  naghi  an 
cestors  (The  AbnaMs  and  their  History,  p.  29  :  New  York,  1866). 

2  White  light,  remarks  Goethe,  has  in  it  something  cheerful 
and  ennobling  ;  it  possesses  "  eine  heitere,  mimtere,  sanft  reizende 
Eio-enschaft."     Farbenlehre,  see's  7G6,  770.' 


THE  POWER  OF  WHITENESS.  175 

in  that  day  when  He  appeared  "in  garments  so  white 
as  no  fuller  on  earth  could  white  them."  No  nation 
is  free  from  the  power  of  this  law.  "  White,"  ob 
serves  Adair  of  the  southern  Indians,  "is  their  fixed 
emblem  of  peace,  friendship,  happiness,  prosperity, 
purity,  and  holiness."1  Their  priests  dressed  in 
white  robes,  as  did  those  of  Peru  and  Mexico;  the 
kings  of  the  various  species  of  animals  were  all  sup 
posed  to  be  white;2  the  cities  of  refuge  established 
as  asylums  for  alleged  criminals  by  the  Cherokees  in 
the  manner  of  the  Israelites  Avere  called  "white 
towns,"  and  for  sacrifices  animals  of  this  color  were 
ever  most  highly  esteemed.  All  these  sentiments 
were  linked  to  the  dawn.  Language  itself  is  proof 
of  it.  Many  Algonkin  words  for  east,  morning, 
dawn,  day,  light,  as  we  have  already  seen,  are 
derived  from  a  radical  signifying  white.  Or  we  can 
take  a  tongue  nowise  related,  the  Quiche,  and  find 
its  words  for  east,  dawn,  morning,  light,  bright, 
glorious,  happy,  noble,  all  derived  from  zaJc,  white. 
We  read  in  their  legends  of  the  earliest  men  that 
they  were  "white  children,"  "white  sons,"  leading 
"a  white  life  beyond  the  dawn,"  and  the  creation 
itself  is  attributed  to  the  Dawn,  the  White  One,  the 
White  Sacrificer  of  Blood.3  But  why  insist  upon 
the  point  when  in  European  tongues  we  "find  the 

1  Hist,  of  the  2T.  Am.  Indians,  p.  159. 

2  La  Hontan,  Voy.  dans  VAmer.  Sept.,  ii.  p.  42. 

3  "Blanco  pizote,"  Ximenes,  p.  4,    Vocabulario  Quiche,  s.  v. 
zak.     In  the  far  north  the  Eskimo  tongue  presents  the  same 
analogy.     Day,  morning,  bright,  light,  lightning,  all  are  from 
the  same  root  (fam),  signifying  white  (Richardson,  Vocal),  of 
Labrador  Eskimo). 


176    THE  SUPREME  GODS  OF  THE  RED  RACE. 

daybreak  called  Vaube,  alva,  from  albus,  white? 
Enough  for  the  purpose  if  the  error  of  those  is 
manifest,  who,  in  such  expressions,  would  seek  sup 
port  for  any  theory  of  ancient  European  immigra 
tion;  enough  if  it  displays  the  true  meaning  of  those 
traditions  of  the  advent  of  benevolent  visitors  of  fair 
complexion  in  ante-Columbian  times,  which  both 
Algonkins  and  Iroquois1  had  in  common  with  many 
other  tribes  of  the  western  continent.  Their  expla 
nation  will  not  be  found  in  the  annals  of  Japan,  the 
triads  of  the  Cymric  bards,  nor  the  sagas  of  Icelandic 
skalds,  but  in  the  propensity  of  the  human  mind  to 
attribute  its  own  origin  and  culture  to  that  white- 
shining  orient  where  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  are  daily 
born  in  renovated  glory,  to  that  fair  mother,  who,  at 
the  cost  of  her  own  life,  gives  light  and  joy  to  the 
world,  to  the  brilliant  womb  of  Aurora,  the  glowing 
bosom  of  the  Dawn. 

Even  the  complicated  mythology  of  Peru  yields  to 
the  judicious  application  of  these  principles  of  inter 
pretation.  Its  peculiar  obscurity  arises  from  the 
policy  of  the  Incas  to  blend  the  religions  of  conquered 
provinces  with  their  own.  Thus  about  1350  the  Inca 
Pachacutefc  subdued  the  country  about  Lima  where 
the  worship  of  Con  and  Pachacama  prevailed.2  The 

1  Some  fragments  of  them  may  be  found  in  Campanius,  Ace. 
of  New  Sweden,  1650,  book  iii.  chap.  11,  and  in  Byrd,  The  West- 
over  Manuscripts,  1733,  p.  82.      They  were  in  both  instances 
alleged  to  have  been  white  and  bearded  men,  the  latter  probably 
a  later  trait  in  the  legend. 

2  Con  or  Gun  I  have  already  explained  to  mean  thunder,  Con 
tici,  the  mythical  thunder  vase.     Pachacama  is  doubtless,  as  M. 
Leonce  Angrand  has  suggested,  from  ppaclia,  source,  and  cama, 
all,  the  Source  of  All  things  (Desjardins,  Le  Perou  avant  la 


CON  A  ND  PA  CIIA  CA  MA .  177 

local  myth,  represented  these  as  father  and  son,  or 
brothers,  children  of  the  sun.  They  were  without  - 
flesh  or  blood,  impalpable,  invisible,  and  incredibly 
swift  of  foot.  Con  first  possessed  the  land,  but  Pacha- 
cama  attacked  and  drove  him  to  the  north.  Irritated 
at  his  defeat  he  took  with  him  the  rain,  and  conse 
quently  to  this  day  the  sea-coast  of  Peru  is  largely 
an  arid  desert.  Now  when  we  are  informed  that  the 
south  wind,  that  in  other  words  which  blows  to  the 
north,  is  the  actual  cause  of  the  aridity  of  the  low 
lands,1  and  consider  the  light  and  airy  character  of 
these  antagonists,  we  cannot  hesitate  to  accept  this 
as  a  myth  of  the  winds.  The  name  of  Con  tici,  the 
Thunder  Yase,  was  indeed  applied  to  Viracocha  in 
later  times,  but  they  were  never  identical.  Viracocha  v 
was  the  culture  hero  of  the  ancient  Aymara-Quichua 
stock.  He  was  more  than  that,  for  in  their  creed  he 
was  creator  and  possessor  of  all  things.  Lands  and 
herds  were  assigned  to  other  gods  to  support  their 

Conq.  Espagnole,  p.  23,  note).  But  he  and  all  other  writers 
have  been  in  error  in  considering  this  identical  with  Pachacamac, 
nor  can  the  latter  mean  creator  of  the  world,  as  it  has  constantly 
been  translated.  It  is  a  participial  adjective  from  pacha,  place, 
especially  the  world,  and  camac,  present  participle  of  camani,  I 
animate,  from  which  also  comes  camakenc,  the  soul,  and  means 
animating  the  world.  It  was  never  used  as  a  proper  name.  The 
following  trochaic  lines  from  the  Quichua  poem  translated  in 
the  previous  chapter,  show  its  true  meaning  and  correct  accent : — 
Pacha  rurac,  World  creating, 

Pacha  camac,  World  animating, 

Viracocha,  Viracocha, 

Camasunqui,  He  animates  thee. 

The  last  word  is  the  second  transition,  present  tense,  of  camani, 
while  camac  is  its  present  participle. 

1  Ulloa,  Memoir  es  Philosophiques  sur  V  Amerique,  i.  p.  105. 


178    THE  SUPREME  GODS  OF  THE  RED  RACE. 

temples,  and  offerings  were  heaped  on  their  altars, 
but  to  him  none.  For,  asked  the  Incas :  "  Shall  the 
Lord  and  Master  of  the  whole  world  need  these  things 
from  us?"  To  him,  says  Acosta,  "they  did  attribute 
the  chief  power  and  commandement  over  all  things;" 
and  elsewhere  "  in  all  this  realm  the  chief  idoll  they 
did  worship  was  Viracocha,  and  after  him  the  Sunne."1 
Ere  sun  or  moon  was  made,  he  rose  from  the  bosom 
of  Lake  Titicaca,  and  presided  over  the  erection  of 
those  wondrous  cities  whose  ruins  still  dot  its  islands 
and  western  shores,  and  whose  history  is  totally  lost 
in  the  night  of  time.  He  himself  constructed  these 
luminaries  and  placed  them  in  the  sky,  and  then 
peopled  the  earth  with  its  present  inhabitants.  From 
the  lake  he  journeyed  westward,  not  without  adven 
tures,  for  he  was  attacked  with  murderous  intent  by 
the  beings  whom  he  had  created.  When,  however, 
scorning  such  unequal  combat,  he  had  manifested  his 
power  by  hurling  the  lightning  on  the  hill-sides  and 
consuming  the  forests,  they  recognized  their  maker, 
and  humbled  themselves  before  him.  He  was  recon 
ciled,  and  taught  them  arts  and  agriculture,  institu 
tions  and  religion,  meriting  the  title  they  gave  him 
of  Pacliayacliachic,  teacher  of  all  things.  At  last  he 
disappeared  in  the  western  ocean.  Four  personages, 
companions  or  sons,  were  closely  connected  with  him. 
They  rose  together  with  him  from  the  lake,  or  else 
were  his  first  creations.  These  are  the  four  mythi 
cal  civilizers  of  Peru,  who  another  legend  asserts 
emerged  from  the  cave  Pacarin  tampu  the  Lodgings 

1  Acosta,  Hist,  of  the  New  World,  bk.  v.  chap.  4,  bk.  vi.  chap. 
19,  Eng.  trans.,  1704. 


THE  STORY  OF  VIRACOCHA.  179 

of  the  Dawn.1  To  these  Viracocha  gave  the  earth, 
to  one  the  north,  to  another  the  south,  to  a  third  the 
east,  to  a  fourth  the  west.  Their  names  are  very 
variously  given,  but  as  they  have  already  been  iden 
tified  with  the  four  winds,  we  can  omit  their  con 
sideration  here.2  Tradition,  as  has  rightly  been 
observed  by  the  Inca  Grarcilasso  de  la  Vega,3  trans 
ferred  a  portion  of  the  story  of  Yiracocha  to  Manco 
Oapac,  first  of  the  historical  Incas.  King  Manco, 
however,  was  a  real  character,  the  Rudolph  of  Haps- 
burg  of  their  reigning  family,  and  flourished  about 
the  eleventh  century. 

There  is  a  general  resemblance  between  this  story 
and  that  of  Michabo.  Both  precede  and  create  the 
sun,  both  journey  to  the  west,  overcoming  opposition 
with  the  thunderbolt,  both  divide  the  world  between 
the  four  winds,  both  were  the  fathers,  gods,  and 

1  The  name  is  derived  from  tampu,  corrupted  by  the  Spaniards 
to  tambo,  an  inn,  and  paccari  morning,  or  paccarin,  it  dawns, 
which  also  has  the  figurative  signification,  it  is  born.     It  may 
therefore  mean  either  Lodgings  of  the  Dawn,  or  as  the  Spaniards 
usually  translated  it,  House  of  Birth,  or  Production,   Casa  de 
Producimiento. 

2  The  names  given  by  Balboa  (Hist,  du  Perou,   p.  4)  and 
Montesinos   (Ancien  Perou,   p.  5)   are  Manco,    Cacha,    Auca, 
Uchu.    The  meaning  of  Manco  is  unknown.    The  others  signify, 
in  their  order,  messenger,  enemy  or  traitor,  and  the  little  one. 
The  myth  of  Viracocha  is  given  in  its  most  antique  form  by  Juan 
de  Betanzos,  in  the  Ilistoria  de  los  Ingas,  compiled  in  the  first 
years  of  the  conquest  from  the  original  songs  and  legends.     It  is 
quoted  in  Garcia,  Origen  de  los  Indios,  lib.  v.  cap.  7.     Balboa, 
Montesinos,  Acosta,  and  others  have  also  furnished  me   some 
incidents.     Whether  Atachuchu  mentioned  in  the  last  chapter 
was  not  another  name  of  Viracocha  may  well  be  questioned.     It 
is  every  way  probable. 

3  Hist,  des  Incas,  liv.  iii.  chap.  25. 


180    THE  SUPREME  GODS  OF  THE  RED  RACE. 

teachers  of  their  nations.  Nor  does  it  cease  here. 
Michabo,  I  have  shown,  is  the  white  spirit  of  the 
Dawn.  Yiracocha,  all  authorities  translate  "  the  fat 
or  foam  of  the  sea."  The  idea  conveyed  is  of  white 
ness,  foain  being  called  fat  from  its  color.1  So  true 
is  this  that  to-day  in  Peru  white  men  are  called  vira- 
cochas,  and  the  early  explorers  constantly  received 
the  same  epithet.2  The  name  is  a  metaphor.  The 
dawn  rises  above  the  horizon  as  the  snowy  foam  on 
the  surface  of  a  lake.  As  the  Algonkins  spoke  of 
the  Abnakis,  their  white  ancestors,  as  in  Mexican 
legends  the  early  Toltecs  were  of  fair  complexion,  so 
the  Aymaras  sometimes  called  the  first  four  brothers, 
viracochas,  white  men.3  It  is  the  ancient  story  how 

"Light 

Sprung  from  the  deep,  and  from  her  native  east 
To  journey  through  the  airy  gloom  began."  < 

The  central  figure  of  Toltec  mythology  is  Quetzal- 
coatl.  Not  an  author  on  ancient  Mexico  but  has 
something  to  say  about  the  glorious  days  when  he 
ruled  over  the  land.  No  one  denies  him  to  have 
been  a  god,  the  god  of  the  air,  highest  deity  of  the 
Toltecs,  in  whose  honor  was  erected  the  pyramid  of 
Cholula,  grandest  monument  of  their  race.  But 
many  insist  that  he  was  at  first  a  man,  some  deified 
king.  There  were  in  truth  many  Quetzalcoatls,  for 
his  high  priest  always  bore  his  name,  but  he  himself 
is  a  pure  creation  of  the  fancy,  and  all  his  alleged 
history  is  nothing  but  a  myth. 

1  It  is  compounded  of  vira,  fat,  foam  (which  perhaps  is  akin 
to  yurac,  white),  and  coclia,  a  pond  or  lake. 

2  See  Desjardins,  Le  Perou  avant  la  Cong.  Espagnole,  p.  67. 

3  Gomara,  Hist,  de  las  Indias,  cap.  119,  in  Miiller. 


THE  MYTH  OF  QUETZALCOATL.  181 

His  emblematic  name,  the  Bird-Serpent,  and  his 
rebus  and  cross  at  Palenque,  I  have  already  explained. 
Others  of  his  titles  were,  Ehecatl,  the  air ;  Yolcuat, 
the  rattlesnake ;  Tohil,  the  rambler ;  Hueraac,  the 
strong  hand ;  Nani  he  hecatle,  lord  of  the  four  winds. 
The  same  dualism  reappears  in  him -that  has  been 
noted  in  his  analogues  elsewhere.  He  is  both  lord 
of  the  eastern  light  and  the  winds. 
f  As  the  former,  he  was  born  of  a  virgin  in  the  land 
of  Tula  or  Tlapallan,  in  the  distant  Orient,  and  was 
high  priest  of  that  happy  realm.  The  morning  star 
was  his  symbol,  and  the  temple  of  Cholula  was  dedi 
cated  to  him  expressly  as  the  author  of  light.1  As 
by  days  we  measure  time,  he  was  the  alleged  inventor 
of  the  calendar.  Like  all  the  dawn  heroes,  he  too 
was  represented  as  of  white  complexion,  clothed  in 
long  white  robes,  and,  as  most  of  the  Aztec  gods,  with 
a  full  and  flowing  beard.2  When  his  earthly  work 
was  done  he  too  returned  to  the  east,  assigning  as  a 
reason  that  the  sun,  the  ruler  of  Tlapallan,  demanded 

1  Brasseur,  Hist,  du  Mexique,  i.  p.  302. 

2  There  is  no  reason  to  lay  any  stress  upon  this  feature.    Beard 
was  nothing  uncommon  among  the  Aztecs  and  many  other 
nations  of  the  New  World.     It  was  held  to  add  dignity  to  the 
appearance,  and  therefore  Sahagun,  in  his  description  of  the 
Mexican  idols,  repeatedly  alludes  to  their  beards,  and  Miiller 
quotes  various  authorities  to  show  that  the  priests  wore  them 
long  and  full  (Amer.  UrreMgionen,  p.  429).    Not  only  was  Quet- 
zalcoatl  himself  reported  to  have  been  of  fair  complexion — white 
indeed — but  the  Creole  historian  Ixtlilxochitl  says  the  old  legends 
asserted  that  all  the  Toltecs,  natives  of  Tollan,  or  Tula,  as  their 
name  signifies,  were  so  likewise.     Still  more,  Aztlan,  the  tradi 
tional  home  of  the  Nahuas,  or  Aztecs  proper,  means  literally  the 
white  land,  according  to  one  of  our  best  authorities  (Buschniann, 

Ueber  die  AzteMschen  Ortsnamen,  p.  612  :  Berlin,  1852). 


182          THE  SUPREME  GODS  OF  THE  RED  RACE. 

his  presence.  But  the  real  motive  was  that  he  had 
been  overcome  by  Tezcatlipoca,  otherwise  called 
Yoalliehecatl,  the  wind  or  spirit  of  night,  who  had  de 
scended  from  heaven  by  a  spider's  web  and  presented 
his  rival  with  a  draught  pretended  to  confer  immor 
tality,  but,  in  fact,  producing  uncontrollable  longing 
for  home.  For  the  wind  and  the  light  both  depart 
when  the  gloaming  draws  near,  or  when  the  clouds 
spread  their  dark  and  shadowy  webs  along  the  mount 
ains,  and  pour  the  vivifying  rain  upon  the  fields. 

In  his  other  character,  he  was  begot  of  the  breath 
of  Tonacateotl,  god  of  our  flesh  or  subsistence,1  or 
(according  to  Gromara)  was  the  son  of  Iztac  Mixcoatl, 
the  white  cloud  serpent,  the  spirit  of  the  tornado. 
Messenger  of  Tlaloc,  god  of  rains,  he  was  figuratively 
said  to  sweep  the  road  for  him,  since  in  that  country 
violent  winds  are  the  precursors  of  the  wet  seasons. 
Wherever  he  went  all  manner  of  singing  birds  bore 
him  company,  emblems  of  the  whistling  breezes. 
When  he  finally  disappeared  in  the  far  east,  he  sent 
back  four  trusty  youths  who  had  ever  shared  his 
fortunes,  "  incomparably  swift  and  light  of  foot,"  with 
directions  to  divide  the  earth  between  them  and  rule 
it  till  he  should  return  and  resume  his  power.  When 
he  would  promulgate  his  decrees,  his  herald  pro 
claimed  them  from  Tzatzitepec,  the  hill  of  shouting, 
with  such  a  mighty  voice  that  it  could  be  heard  a 
hundred  leagues  around.  The  arrows  which  he  shot 
transfixed  great  trees,  the  stones  he  threw  levelled 
forests,  and  when  he  laid  his  hands  on  the  rocks  the 
mark  was  indelible.  Yet  as  thus  emblematic  of  the 
thunder-storm,  he  possessed  in  full  measure  its  better 

1  Kingsborougli,  Antiquities  of  Mexico,  v.  p.  109. 


THE  MYTH  OF  QUETZALCOATL.  183 

attributes.  By  shaking  his  sandals  he  gave  fire  to 
men,  and  peace,  plenty,  and  riches  blessed  his  sub 
jects.  Tradition  says  he  built  many  temples  to  Mict- 
lanteuctli,  the  Aztec  Pluto,  and  at  the  creation  of  the 
sun  that  he  slew  all  the  other  gods,  for  the  advancing 
dawn  disperses  the  spectral  shapes  of  night,  and  yet 
all  its  vivifying  power  does  but  result  in  increasing 
the  number  doomed  to  fall  before  the  remorseless 
stroke  of  death.1 

His  symbols  were  the  bird,  the  serpent,  the  cross, 
and  the  flint,  representing  the  clouds,  the  lightning, 
the  four  winds,  and  the  thunderbolt.  Perhaps,  as 
Huemac,  the  Strong  Hand,  he  was  god  of  the  earth 
quakes,  The  Zapotecs  worshipped  such  a  deity  under 
the  image  of  this  member  carved  from  a  precious 
stone,2  calling  to  mind  the  "  Kab  ul,"  the  Working 
Hand,  adored  by  the  Mayas,3  and  said  to  be  one  of 
the  images  of  Zamna,  their  hero  god.  The  human 
hand,  "  that  divine  tool,"  as  it  has  been  called,  might 
well  be  regarded  by  the  reflective  mind  as  the  teacher 
of  the  arts  and  the  amulet  whose  magic  power  has 
.won  for  man  what  vantage  he  has  gained  in  his  long 
combat  with  nature  and  his  fellows. 

I  might  next  discuss  the  culture  myth  of  the  Muys- 
cas,  whose  hero  Bochica  or  Nemqueteba  bore  the 

1  The  myth  of  Quetzalcoatl  I  have  taken  chiefly  from  Sahagun, 
Hist,  de  la  Nueva  JEspana,  lib.  i.  cap.  5  ;  lib.  iii.  caps.  3, 13, 14 ;  lib. 
x.  cap.  29  ;  and  Torquemada,  Monarquia  Indiana,  lib.  vi.  cap.  24. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  the  Quiche  legends  identify  him 
positively  with  the  Tohil  of  Central  America  (Le  Livre  Sacre, 
p.  247). 

2  Padilla  Davila,  Hut.  de  la  Prov.  de  Santiago  de  Mexico,  lib. 
ii.  cap.  89. 

3  Cogolludo,  Hist,  de  Yucathan,  lib.  iv.  cap.  8. 


184          THE  SUPREME  GODS  OF  THE  RED  RACE. 

other  name  SUA,  the  White  One,  the  Day,  the  East, 
an  appellation  they  likewise  gave  the  Europeans  on 
their  arrival.  He  had  taught  them  in  remotest  times 
how  to  manufacture  their  clothing,  build  their  houses, 
cultivate  the  soil,  and  reckon  time.  When  he  disap 
peared,  he  divided  the  land  between  four  chiefs,  and 
laid  down  many  minute  rules  of  government  which 
ever  after  were  religiously  observed.1  Or  I  might 
choose  that  of  the  Caribs,  whose  patron  Tamu  called 
Grandfather,  and  Old  Man  of  the  Sky,  was  a  man  of 
light  complexion,  who  in  the  old  times  came  from  the 
east,  instructed  them  in  agriculture  and  arts,  and  dis 
appeared  in  the  same  direction,  promising  them  as 
sistance  in  the  future,  and  that  at  death  he  would 
receive  their  souls  on  the  summit  of  the  sacred  tree, 
and  transport  them  safely  to  his  home  in  the  sky.2 
Or  from  the  more  fragmentary  mythology  of  ruder  - 
nations,  proof  might  be  brought  of  the  well  nigh 
universal  reception  of  these  fundamental  views.  As, 
for  instance,  when  the  Mandans  of  the  Upper  Mis 
souri  speak  of  their  first  ancestor  as  a  son  of  the 
West,  who  preserved  them  at  the  flood,  and  whose 

1  He  is  also  called  Idacanzas  and  Nemterequetaba.    Some  have 
maintained  a  distinction  between  Bochica  and  Sua,  which,  how 
ever,  has  not  been  shown.   The  best  authorities  on  the  mythology 
of  the  Muyscas  are  Piedrahita,  Hist,  de  las  Conq.  del  Nuevo  Reyno 
de  Granada,  1668  (who  is  copied  by  Humboldt,  Vues  des  Cordil- 
leres,  pp.  246  sqq.),  and  Simon,  Noticias  de  Tierra  Firme,  Parte 
ii.,  in  Kingsborough's  Mexico. 

2  D'Orbigny,  L'Ifomme  Americain,  ii.  p.  319,  and  Rochefort, 
Hist,  des  Isles  Antilles,  p.  482  (Waitz).     The  name  has  various 
orthographies,  Tamu,  Tamoi,  Tamou,  Itamoulou,  etc.     Perhaps 
the  Ama-livaca  of  the  Orinoko  Indians  is  another  form.     This 
personage  corresponds  even  minutely  in  many  points  with  the 
Tamu  of  the  island  Caribs. 


THE  MYTH  OF  TUFA.  185 

garb  was  always  of  four  milk-wliite  wolf  skins  ;T  and 
when  the  Pimos,  a  people  of  the  valley  of  the  Eio 
Gila,  relate  that  their  birthplace  was  where  the  sun 
rises,  that  there  for  generations  they  led  a  joyous  life, 
until  their  beneficent  first  parent  disappeared  in  the 
heavens.  From  that  time,  say  they,  God  lost  sight  of 
them,  and  they  wandered  west,  and  further  west  till 
they  reached  their  present  seats.2  Or  I  might  in 
stance  the  Tupis  of  Brazil,  who  were  named  after 
the  first  of  men,  Tupa,  he  who  alone  survived  the 
flood,  who  was  one  of  four  brothers,  who  is  described 
as  an  old  man  of  fair  complexion,  un  vieillard  blanc? 
and  who  is  now  their  highest  divinity,  ruler  of  the 
lightning  and  the  storm,  whose  voice  is  the  thunder, 
and  who  is  the  guardian  of  their  nation.  But  is  it 
not  evident  that  these  and  all  such  legends  are  but 
variations  of  those  already  analyzed? 

In  thus  removing  one  by  one  the  wrappings  of 
symbolism,  and  displaying  at  the  centre  and  summit 
of  these  various  creeds,  He  who  is  throned  in  the 
sky,  who  comes  with  the  dawn,  who  manifests  him 
self  in  the  light  and  the  storm,  and  whose  ministers 

1  Catlin,  Letters  and  Notes,  Letter  22. 

2  Journal  of  Capt.  Johnson,  in  Emory,  Reconnaissance  of  New 
Mexico,  p.  601. 

3  M.  De  Charency,  in  the  Revue  Americaine,  ii.  p.  317.    Tupa 
it  may  be  observed  means  in  Quichua,  lord,  or  royal.     Father 
Holguin  gives  as  an  example  a  tupa  Dios,  O  Lord  God  (  Vocabu- 
lario   Quichua,  p.  348:   Ciudad  de  los  Keyes,  1608).     In  the 
Quiche  dialects  tepeu  is  one  of  the  common  appellations  of  di 
vinity  and  is  also  translated  lord  or  ruler.     We  are  not  yet  suffi 
ciently  advanced  in  the  study  of  American  philology  to  draw 
any  inference  from  these  resemblances,  but  they  should  not  be 
overlooked. 


186          THE  SUPREME  GODS  OF  THE  RED  RACE. 

are  the  four  winds,  I  set  up  no  new  god.  The  ancient 
Israelites  prayed  to  him  who  was  seated  above  the 
firmament,  who  commanded  the  morning  and  caused 
the  day-spring  to  know  its  place,  who  answered  out 
of  the  whirlwind,  and  whose  envoys  were  the  four 
winds,  the  four  cherubim  described  with  such  wealth 
of  imagery  in  the  introduction  to  the  book  of  Ezekiel. 
The  Mahometan  adores  "the  clement  and  merciful 
Lord  of  the  Daybreak,"  whose  star  is  in  the  east, 
who  rides  on  the  storm,  and  whose  breath  is  the 
wind.  The  primitive  man  in  the  New  World  also 
associated  these  physical  phenomena  as  products  of 
an  invisible  power,  conceived  under  human  form, 
called  by  name,  worshipped  as  one,  and  of  whom  all 
related  the  same  myth  differing  but  in  unimportant 
passages.  This  was  the  primeval  religion.  It  was  not 
monotheism,  for  there  were  many  other  gods;  it  was 
not  pantheism,  for  there  was  no  blending  of  the  cause 
with  the  effects ;  still  less  was  it  fetichism,  an  adora 
tion  of  sensuous  objects,  for  these  were  recognized  as 
i  effects.  It  teaches  us  that  the  idea  of  God  neither 
arose  from  the  phenomenal  world  nor  was  sunk  in 
it,  as  is  the  shallow  theory  of  the  day,  but  is  as 
Kant  long  ago  defined  it,  a  conviction  of  a  highest 
and  first  principle  which  binds  all  phenomena  into 
one. 

One  point  of  these  legends  deserves  closer  attention 
for  the  influence  it  exerted  on  the  historical  fortunes 
of  the  race.  The  dawn  heroes  were  conceived  as  of 
fair  complexion,  mighty  in  war,  and  though  absent 
*  for  a  season,  destined  to  return  and  claim  their  ancient 
power.  Here  was  one  of  those  unconscious  prophe 
cies,  pointing  to  the  advent  of  a  white  race  from  the 


PROPHECIES  OF  HEATHENDOM.  187 

east,  that  wrote  the  doom  of  the  red  man  in  letters 
of  fire.  Historians  have  marvelled  at  the  instanta 
neous  collapse  of  the  empires  of  Mexico,  Peru,  the 
Mayas,  and  the  Natchez,  before  a  handful  of  Spanish 
filibusters.  The  fact  was,  wherever  the  whites 
appeared  they  were  connected  with  these  ancient 
predictions  of  the  spirit  of  the  dawn  returning  to 
claim  his  own.  Obscure  and  ominous  prophecies, 
"  texts  of  bodeful  song,"  rose  in  the  memory  of  the 
natives,  and  paralyzed  their  arms. 

"  For  a  very  long  time,"  said  Montezuma,  at  his 
first  interview  with  Cortes,  "  has  it  been  handed  down 
that  we  are  not  the  original  possessors  of  this  land, 
but  came  hither  from  a  distant  region  under  the 
guidance  of  a  ruler  who  afterwards  left  us  and  re 
turned.  We  have  ever  believed  that  some  day  his 
descendants  would  come  and  resume  dominion  over 
us.  Inasmuch  as  you  are  from  that  direction,  which 
is  toward  the  rising  of  the  sun,  and  serve  so  great 
a  king  as  you  describe,  we  believe  that  he  is  also  our 
natural  lord,  and  are  ready  to  submit  ourselves  to 
him."1 

The  gloomy  words  of  Nezahualcoyotl,  a  former 
prince  of  Tezcuco,  foretelling  the  arrival  of  white 
and  bearded  men  from  the  east,  who  would  wrest  the 
power  from  the  hands  of  the  rightful  rulers  and 
destroy  in  a  day  the  edifice  of  centuries,  were  ringing 
in  his  ears.  But  they  were  not  so  gloomy  to  the 
minds  of  his  down-trodden  subjects,  for  that  day  was 
to  liberate  them  from  the  thralls  of  servitude.  There 
fore  when  they  first  beheld  the  fair  complexioned 

1  Cortes,  Carta  Primera,  pp.  113,  114. 


188          THE  SUPREME  GODS  OF  THE  RED  RACE.     • 

Spaniards,  they  rushed  into  the  water  to  embrace 
the  prows  of  their  vessels,  and  despatched  messen 
gers  throughout  the  land  to  proclaim  the  return  of 
Quetzalcoatl.1 

The  noble  Mexican  was  not  alone  in  his  presenti 
ments.  When  Hernando  de  Soto  on -landing  in  Peru 
first  met  the  Inca  Huascar,  the  latter  related  an 
ancient  prophecy  which  his  father  Iluayna  Capac 
had  repeated  on  his  dying  bed,  to  the  effect  that  in 
the  reign  of  the  thirteenth  Inca,  white  men  (viracochas) 
of  surpassing  strength  and  valor  would  come  from 
their  father  the  Sun  and  subject  to  their  rule  the 
nations  of  the  world.  "I  command  you,"  said  the 
dying  monarch,  "  to  yield  them  homage  and  obedience, 
for  they  will  be  of  a  nature  superior  to  ours."2 

The  natives  of  Haiti  told  Columbus  of  similar 
predictions  long  anterior  to  his  arrival.3  And  Father 
Lizana  has  preserved  in  the  original  Maya  tongue 
several  such  foreboding  chants.  Doubtless  he  has 
adapted  them  somewhat  to  proselytizing  purposes,  but 
they  seem  very  likely  to  be  close  copies  of  authentic 
aboriginal  songs,  referring  to  the  return  of  Zamna  or 
Kukulcan,  lord  of  the  dawn  and  the  four  winds, 
worshipped  at  Cozumel  and  Palenque  under  the  sign 
of  the  cross.  An  extract  will  show  their  character: — 

"  At  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  Age  of  the  world, 
While  the  cities  of  Itza  and  Tancah  still  flourish, 
The  sign  of  the  Lord  of  the  Sky  will  appear, 
The  light  of  the  dawn  will  illumine  the  land, 
And  the  cross  will  be  seen  by  the  nations  of  men. 


1  Sahagun,  Ilist.  de  la  Nueva  Espana,  lib.  xii.  caps.  2,  3. 

2  La  Vega,  Hist,  des  Incas,  lib.  ix.  cap.  15. 

3  Peter  Martyr,  De  Eeb.  Oceanicis,  Dec.  iii.  lib.  vii. 


THE  HOPES  OF  A  REDEEMER.  189 

A  father  to  you,  will  He  be,  Itzalanos, 
A  brother  to  you,  ye  natives  of  Tancah  ; 
Receive  well  the  bearded  guests  who  are  coming, 
Bringing  the  sign  of  the  Lord  from  the  daybreak, 
Of  the  Lord  of  the  Sky,  so  clement  yet  powerful."1 

The  older  writers,  Gomara,  Cogolludo,  Villagu- 
tierre,  have  taken  pains  to  collect  other  instances  of 
this  presentiment  of  the  arrival  and  domination  of  a 
white  race.  Later  historians,  fashionably  incredulous 
of  what  they  cannot  explain,  have  passed  them  over 
in  silence.  That  they  existed  there  can  be  no  doubt, 
and  that  they  arose  in  the  way  I  have  stated,  is 
almost  proven  by  the  fact  that  in  Mexico,  Bogota, 
and  Peru,  the  whites  were  at  once  called  from  the 
proper  names  of  the  heroes  of  the  Dawn,  Suas,  Vira- 
cochas,  and  Quetzalcoatls. 

When  the  church  of  Eome  had  crushed  remorse 
lessly  the  religions  of  Mexico  and  Peru,  all  hope  of 
the  return  of  Quetzalcoatl  and  Yiracocha  perished 
with  the  institutions  of  which  they  were  the  mythi 
cal  founders.  But  it  was  only  to  arise  under  new 
incarnations  and  later  names.  As  well  forbid  the 
heart  of  youth  to  bud  forth  in  tender  love,  as  that  of 
oppressed  nationalities  to  cherish  the  faith  that  some 
ideal  hero,  some  royal  man,  will  yet  arise,  and  break 

1  Lizana,  Hist,  de  Nuestra  Senora  de  Itzamal,  lib.  ii.  cap.  i.  in 
Brasseur,  Hist,  du  Mexique,  ii.  p.  605.  The  prophecies  are  of  the 
priest  who  bore  the  title — not  name — cliilan  balam,  and  whose 
offices  were  those  of  divination  and  astrology.  The  verse 
claims  to  date  from  about  1450,  and  was  very  well  known  through 
out  Yucatan,  so  it  is  said.  The  number  thirteen  which  in  many 
of  these  prophecies  is  the  supposed  limit  of  the  present  order  of 
things,  is  doubtless  derived  from  the  observation  that  thirteen 
moons  complete  one  solar  year. 


190    THE  SUPREME  GODS  OF  THE  RED  RACE. 

in  fragments  their  fetters,  and  lead  them  to  glory  and 
honor. 

When  the  name  of  Quetzalcoatl  was  no  longer 
heard  from  the  teocalli  of  Cholula,  that  of  Monte- 
zuma  took  its  place.  From  ocean  to  ocean,  and  from 
the  river  Gila  to  the  Nicaraguan  lake,  nearly  every 
aboriginal  nation  still  cherishes  the  memory  of  Mon- 
tezuma,  not  as  the  last  unfortunate  ruler  of  a  vanished 
£tate,  but  as  the  prince  of  their  golden  era,  their 
Saturnian  age,  lord  of  the  winds  and  waters,  and 
founder  of  their  institutions.  When,  in  the  depth  of 
the  tropical  forests,  the  antiquary  disinters  some 
statue  of  earnest  mien,  the  natives  whisper  one  to 
the  other,  "Montezuma!  Montezuma!"1  In  the  le 
gends  of  New  Mexico  he  is  the  founder  of  the  pueblos, 
and  intrusted  to  their  guardianship  the  .sacred  fire. 
Departing,  he  planted  a  tree,  and  bade  them  watch  it 
well,  for  when  that  tree  should  fall  and  the  fire  die 
out,  then  he  would  return  from  the  far  East,  and  lead 
his  loyal  people  to  victory  and  power.  When  the 
present  generation  saw  their  land  glide,  mile  by  mile, 
into  the  rapacious  hands  of  the  Yankees — when  new 
and  strange  diseases  desolated  their  homes — finally, 
when  in  1846  the  sacred  tree  was  prostrated,  and  the 
guardian  of  the  holy  fire  was  found  dead  on  its  co]d 
ashes,  then  they  thought  the  hour  of  deliverance  had 
come,  and  every  morning  at  earliest  dawn  a  watcher 
mounted  to  the  house-tops,  and  gazed  long  and 
anxiously  in  the  lightening  east,  hoping  to  descry 
the  noble  form  of  Montezuma  advancing  through 

1  Squier,  Travels  in  Nicaragua,  ii.  p.  35. 


THE  HOPES  OF  A  REDEEMER.  191 

the   morning   beams   at   the  head  of  a  conquering 
army.1 

Groaning  under  the  iron  rule  of  the  Spaniards,  the 
Peruvians  would  not  believe  that  the  last  of  the 
Incas  had  perished  an  outcast  and  a  wanderer  in  the 
forests  of  the  Cordilleras.  For  centuries  they  clung 
to  the  persuasion  that  he  had  but  retired  to  another 
mighty  kingdom  beyond  the  mountains,  and  in  due 
time  would  return  and  sweep  the  haughty  Castilian 
back  into  the  ocean.  In  1781,  a  mestizo,  Jose  Gabriel 
Condorcanqui,  of  the  province  of  Tinta,  took  advan 
tage  of  this  strong  delusion,  and  binding  around  his 
forehead  the  scarlet  fillet  of  the  Incas,  proclaimed 
himself  the  long  lost  Inca  Tupac  Amaru,  and  a  true 
child  of  the  sun.  Thousands  of  Indians  flocked  to 
his  standard,  and  at  their  head  he  took  the  field, 
vowing  the  extermination  of  every  soul  of  the  hated 
race.  Seized  at  last  by  the  Spaniards,  and  condemned 
to  a  public  execution,  so  profound  was  the  reverence 
with  which  he  had  inspired  his  followers,  so  full 
their  faith  in  his  claims,  that,  undeterred  by  the 
threats  of  the  soldiery,  they  prostrated  themselves  on 
their  faces  before  this  last  of  the  children  of  the  sun, 
as  he  passed  on  to  a  felon's  death.2 

1  Whipple,  Report  on  the  Ind.  Tribes,  p.  36.  Emory,  Eecon. 
of  New  Mexico,  p.  64.  The  latter  adds  that  among  the  Pueblo 
Indians,  the  Apaches,  and  Navajos,  the  name  of  Montezuma  is 
' '  as  familiar  as  Washington  to  us. ' '  This  is  the  more  curious, 
as  neither  the  Pueblo  Indians  nor  either  of  the  other  tribes  are  in 
any  way  related  to  the  Aztec  race  by  language,  as  has  been 
shown  by  Dr.  Buschrnan,  Die  Voelker  und  Sprachen  New 
Mexico's,  p.  262. 

2  Humboldt,  Essay  on  New  Spain,  bk.  ii.  chap,  vi.,  Eng. 
trans. ;  Ansichten  der  Natur,  ii.  pp.  357,  386. 


192          THE  SUPREME  GODS  OF  THE  RED  RACE. 

These  fancied  reminiscences,  these  unfounded  hopes, 
so  vague,  so  child-like,  let  no  one  dismiss  them  as 
the  babblings  of  ignorance.  Contemplated  in  their 
broadest  meaning  as  characteristics  of  the  race  of 
man,  they  have  an  interest  higher  than  any  history, 
beyond  that  of  any  poetry.  They  point  to  the  recog 
nized  discrepancy  between  what  man  is,  and  what  he 
feels  he  shoulct  be,  must  be;  they  are  the  indignant 
protests  of  the  race  against  acquiescence  in  the 
world's  evil  as  the  world's  law ;  they  are  the  incohe 
rent  utterances  of  those  yearnings  for  nobler  condi 
tions  of  existence,  which  no  savagery,  no  ignorance, 
nothing  but  a  false  and  lying  enlightenment  can 
wholly  extinguish. 


CHAPTEE     Y  1  1  . 

THE  MYTHS  OF  THE  CREATION,  THE  DELUGE,  THE 
EPOCHS  OF  NATURE,  AND  THE  LAST  DAY. 

Cosmogonies  usually  portray  the  action  of  the  SPIRIT  on  the  WATERS.  — 
Those  of  the  Muscogees,  Athapascas,  Quiches,  Mixtecs,  Iroquois,  Al- 
gonkins,  and  others.  —  The  Flood-Myth  an  unconscious  attempt  to 
reconcile  a  creation  in  time  with  the  eternity  of  matter.  —  Proof  of  this 
from  American  mythology.  —  Characteristics  of  American  Flood-Myths. 
—  The  person  saved  usually  the  first  man.  —  The  number  seven.  —  Their 
Ararats.  —  The  role  of  birds.  —  The  confusion  of  tongues.  —  The  Aztec, 
Quiche,  Algonkin,  Tupi,  and  earliest  Sanscrit  flood-myths.  —  The  belief 
in  Epochs  of  Nature  a  further  result  of  this  attempt  at  reconciliation.  — 
Its  forms  among  Peruvians,  Mayas,  and  Aztecs.  —  The  expectation  of  the 
End  of  the  World  a  corollary  of  this  belief.  —  Views  of  various  nations. 


the  reason  rest  content  with  the  belief  that 
the  universe  always  was  as  it  now  is,  it  would 
save  much  beating  of  brains.  Such  is  the  comfort 
able  condition  of  the  Eskimos,  the  Eootdiggers  of 
California,  the  most  brutish  specimens  of  humanity 
everywhere.  Yain  to  inquire  their  story  of  creation, 
for,  like  the  knife-grinder  of  anti-Jacobin  renown, 
they  have  no  story  to  tell.  It  never  occurred  to 
them  that  the  earth  had  a  beginning,  or  underwent 
any  greater  changes  than  those  of  the  seasons.1  Bat 

1  So  far  as  this  applies  to  the  Eskimos,  it  might  be  questioned 
on  the  authority  of  Paul  Egede,  whose  valuable  NacJiric7iten  von 
Oronland  contains  several  flood-myths,  &c.  But  these  Eskimos 
had  had  for  generations  intercourse  with  European  missionaries 
and  sailors,  and  as  the  other  tribes  of  their  stock  were  singularly 
13 


194    MYTHS  OF  CREATION,  DELUGE,  AND  LAST  DAY. 

no  sooner  does  the  mind  begin  to  reflect,  the  intellect 
to  employ  itself  on  higher  themes  than  the  needs  of 
the  body,  than  the  law  of  causality  exerts  its  power, 
and  the  man,  out  of  such  materials  as  he  has  at  hand, 
manufactures  for  himself  a  Theory  of  Things. 

What  these  materials  were  has  been  shown  in  the 
last  few  chapters.  A  simple  primitive  substance,  a 
divinity  to  mould  it — these  are  the  requirements  of 
every  cosmogony.  Concerning  the  first  no  nation 
ever  hesitated.  All  agree  that  before  time  began 
water  held  all  else  in  solution,  covered  and  concealed 
everything.  The  reasons  for  this  assumed  priority 
of  water  have  been  already  touched  upon.  Did  a 
tribe  dwell  near  some  great  sea  others  can  be  ima 
gined.  The  land  is  limited,  peopled,  stable;  the 
ocean  fluctuating,  waste,  boundless.  It  insatiably 
swallows  all  rains  and  rivers,  quenches  sun  and 
moon  in  its  dark  chambers,  and  raves  against  its 
bounds  as  a  beast  of  prey.  Awe  and  fear  are  the 
sentiments  it  inspires;  in  Aryan  tongues  its  syno 
nyms  are  the  desert  and  the  night. ,'  It  produces  an 
impression  of  immensity,  infinity,  formlessness,  and 
barren  changeableness,  well  suited  to  a  notion  of 
chaos.  It  is  sterile,  receiving  all  things,  producing 
nothing.  Hence  the  necessity  of  a  creative  power  to 
act  upon  it,  as  it  were  to  impregnate  its  barren 
germs.  Some  cosmogonies  find  this  in  one,  some  in 
another  personification  of  divinity.  Commonest  of 

devoid  of  corresponding  traditions,  it  is  likely  that  in  Greenland 
they  were  of  foreign  origin. 

1  Pictet,  Origines  Indo-Europeennes  in  Michelet,  La  Her.  The 
latter  has  many  eloquent  and  striking  remarks  on  the  impressions 
left  by  the  great  ocean. 


ATIIAPASCA  MYTH  OF  CREATION.  195 

all  is  that  of  the  wind,  or  its  emblem  the  bird,  types 
of  the  breath  of  life. 

Thus  the  venerable  record  in  Genesis,  translated 
in  the  authorized  version  "and  the  Spirit  of  God 
moved  on  the  face  of  the  waters,"  may  with  equal 
correctness  be  rendered  "  and  a  mighty  wind  brooded 
on  the  surface  of  the  waters,"  presenting  the  picture 
of  a  primeval  ocean  fecundated  by  the  wind  as  a 
bird.1  The  eagle  that  in  the  Finnish  epic  of  Kale- 
wala  floated  over  the  waves  and  hatched  the  land,  the 
egg  that  in  Chinese  legend  swam  hither  and  thither 
until  it  grew  to  a  continent,  the  giant  Ymir,  the 
rustler  (as  wind  in  trees),  from  whose  flesh,  says  the 
Edda,  our  globe  was  made  and  set  to  float  like  a 
speck  in  the  vast  sea  between  Muspel  and  Niflheim, 
all  are  the  same  tale  repeated  by  different  nations  in 
different  ages.  But  why  take  illustrations  from  the 
old  world  when  they  are  so  plenty  in  the  new? 

Before  the  creation,  said_jhe  Muscogees,  a  great 
body  of  water  was  alone  visible.  Two  pigeons  flew 
to  and  fro  over  its  waves,  and  at  last  spied  a  blade  of 
grass  rising  above  the  surface.  Dry  land  gradually 
followed,  and  the  islands  and  continents  took  their 
present  shapes.2  Whether  this  is  an  authentic  abo 
riginal  myth,  is  not  beyond  question.  No  such 
doubt  attaches  to  that  of  the  Athapascas.  With  sin 
gular  unanimity,  most  of  the  northwest  branches  of 
this  stock  trace  their  descent  from  a  raven,  "a  mighty 
bird,  "whose  eyes  were  fire,  whose  glances  were  light- 

1  "Spiritus  Dei  incubuit  superficei  aquarum"  is  the  translation 
of  one  writer.     The  word  for  spirit  in  Hebrew,  as  in  Latin, 
originally  meant  wind,  as  I  have  before  remarked. 

2  Schoolcraft,  Ind.  Tribes,  i.  p.  266. 


196     MYTHS  OF  CREATION,  DELUGE,  AND  LAST  DAY. 

ning,  and  the  clapping  of  whose  wings  was  thunder. 
On  his  descent  to  the  ocean,  the  earth  instantly  rose, 
and  remained  on  the  surface  of  the  water.  This 
omnipotent  bird  then  called  forth  all  the  variety  of 
animals."1 

Yery  similar,  but  with  more  of  poetic  finish,  is  the 
legend  of  the  Quiches: — 

"  This  is  the  first  word  and  the  first  speech.  There 
were  neither  men  nor  brutes ;  neither  birds,  fish,  nor 
crabs,  stick  nor  stone,  valley  nor'  mountain,  stubble 
nor  forest,  nothing  but  the  sky.  The  face  of  the 
land  was  hidden.  There  was  naught  but  the  silent 
sea  and  the  sky.  There  was  nothing  joined,  nor  any 
sound,  nor  thing  that  stirred ;  neither  any  to  do  evil, 
nor  to  rumble  in  the  heavens,  nor  a  walker  on  foot ; 
only  the  silent  waters,  only  the  pacified  ocean,  only 
it  in  its  calm.  Nothing  was  but  stillness,  and  rest, 
and  darkness,  and  the  night;  nothing  but  the  Maker 
and  Moulder,  the  Hurler,  the  Bird-Serpent.  In  the 
waters,  in  a  limpid  twilight,  covered  with  green 
feathers,  slept  the  mothers  and  the  fathers."2 

Over  this  passed  Hurakan,  the' mighty  wind,  and 
called  out  Earth !  and  straightway  th  solid  land  was 
there. 

The  picture  writings  of  the  Mixtecs  preserved  a 
similar  cosmogony:  "In  the  year  .and  in  the  day  of 
clouds,  before  ever  were  either  years  or  days,  the 
world  lay  in  darkness ;  all  things  were  orderless,  and 
a  water  covered  the  slime  and  the  ooze  that  the  earth 

1  Mackenzie,  Hist,  of  the  Fur  Trade,  p.  83  ;  Bichardson,  Arctic 
Expedition,  p.  239. 

2  Ximenes,  Or.  de  los  Ind.  de  Guat.,pp.  5-7.    I  translate  freely, 
following  Ximenes  rather  than  Brasseur. 


IRQ  QUO  IS  MYTH  OF  CREATION.  197 

then  was."  By  the  efforts  of  two  winds,  called,  from 
astrological  associations,  that  of  Nine  Serpents  and 
that  of  Nine  Caverns,  personified' one  as  a  bird  and 
one  as  a  winged  serpent/  the  waters  subsided  and  the 
land  dried.1 

In  the  birds  that  here  play,  such  conspicuous  parts, 
we  cannot  fail  to  recognize  the  winds  and  the  clouds; 
but  more  especially  the  dark  thunder  cloud,  soaring 
in  space  at  the  beginning  of  things,  most  forcible  em 
blem  of  the  aerial  powers.  They  are  the  symbols  of 
that  divinity  which  acted  on  the  passive  and  sterile 
waters,  the  fitting  result  being  the  production  of  a 
universe.  Other  symbols. of  the  divine  could  also  be 
employed,  and  the  meaning  remain  the  same.  Or  were 
the  fancy  too  helpless  to  suggest  any,  they  could  be 
dispensed  with,  and  purely  natural  agencies  take  their 
place.  [Urns  the  unimaginative  Iroquois  narrated 
that  when  their  primitive  female  ancestor  was  kicked 
from  the  sky  by  her  irate  spouse,  there  was  as  yet  no 
land  to  receive  her,|>ut  that  it  "  suddenly  bubbled  up 
under  her  feet,  and  waxed  bigger,  so  that  ere  long  a 
whole  country  was  perceptible."^  Or  that  certain 
amphibious  animals,  the  beaver,  fhe  otter,  and  the 
muskrat,  seeing  her  descent,  hastened  to  dive  and 
bring  up  sufficient  mud  to  construct  an  island  for  her 
residence.3  The  muskrat  is  also  the  simple  machinery 
in  the  cosmogony  of  the  Takahlis  of  the  northwest 
coast,  the  Osages  and  some  Algonkin  tribesj 

T  h  e  s  ejjj^er^wej:^^^ 
that  there  was  really  no  creation  in  such  an  account. 

~ 

1  Garcia,  Or.  de  los  Indios,  lib.  v.  cap.  4. 

2  Doc.  Hist,  of  New  York,  iv.  p.  130  (circ.  1650). 

3  Eel.  de  la  Nouv.  France,  An  1636,  p.  101. 


198     MYTHS  OF  CREATION,  DELUGE,  AND  LAST  DAY. 

Dry  land  was  wanting,  but  earth  was  there,  though 
hidden  by  boundless  waters.  Consequently,  they 
spoke  distinctly  of  the  action  of  the  muskrat  in 
bringing  it  to  the  surface  as  a  formation  only. 
Michabo  directed  him,  and  from  the  mud  formed  f 
islands  and  main  land.  But  when  the  subject  oT"~ 
creation  was  pressed,  they  replied  they  knew  nothing 
of  that,  or  roundly  answered  the  questioner  that  he 
was  talking  nonsense.1  Their  myth,  almost  identical 
with  that  of  their  neighbors,  was  recognized  by  them 
to  be  not  of  a  construction,  but  a  reconstruction  only ; 
a  very  judicious  distinction,  but  one  which  has  a 
most  important  corollary.  A  reconstruction  sup 
poses  a  previous  existence.  This  they  felt,  and  had 
something  to  say  about  an  earth  anterior  to  this  of 
ours,  but  one  without  light  or  human  inhabitants.  A 
lake  burst  its  bounds  and  submerged  it  wholly.  This 
is  obviously  nothing  but  a  mere  and  meagre  fiction, 
invented  to  explain  the  origin  of  the  primeval  ocean. 
But  tnark  it  well,  for  this  is  the  germ  of  those  mar 
vellous  myths  of  the  Epochs  of  Nature,  the  catastro 
phes  of  the  universe,  the  deluges  of  water  and  of  fire, 
which  have  laid  such  strong  hold  on  the  human  fancy 
in  everv  land  and  in  every  age. 

The  purpose  for  which  this  addition  was  made  to 
the  simpler  legend  is  clear  enough.  It  was  to  avoid 
the  dilemma  of  a  creation  from  nothing  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  eternity  of  matter  on  the  other.  Ex 
nihilo  nihil  is  an  apothegm  indorsed  alike  by  the 
profoundest  metaphysicians  and  the  rudest  savages. 
But  the  other  horn  was  no  easier.  To  escape  accept- 

1  Eel.  de  la,  Nouv.  France,  An  1634,  p.  13. 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  FLOOD  MYTH.  199 

ing  the  theory  that  the  world  had  ever  been  as  it 
now  is,  was  the  only  object  of  a  legend  of  its  forma 
tion.  As  either  lemma  conflicts  with  fundamental 
laws  of  thought,  this  escape  was  eagerly  adopted, 
and  in  the  suggestive  words  of  Prescott,  men  "sought 
relief  from  the  oppressive  idea  of  eternity  by  break 
ing  it  up  into  distinct  cycles  or  periods  of  time."1 
Yain  but  characteristic  attempt  of  the  ambitious 
mind  of  man!  The  Hindoo  philosopher  reconciles 
to  his  mind  the  suspension  of  the  world  in  space  by 
imagining  it  supported  by  an  elephant,  the  elephant 
by  a  tortoise,  and  the  tortoise  by  a  serpent.  We 
laugh  at  the  Hindoo,  and  fancy  we  diminish  the  diffi 
culty  by  explaining  that  it  revolves  around  the  sun, 
and  the  sun  around  some  far-off  star.  Just  so  the 
general  mind  of  humanity  finds  some  satisfaction  in 
supposing  a  world  or  a  series  of  worlds  anterior  to 
the  present,  thus  escaping  the  insoluble  enigma  of 
creation  by  removing  it  indefinitely  in  time. 

The  support  lent  to  these  views  by  the  presence  of 
marine  shells  on  high  lands,  or  by  faint  reminiscences 
of  local  geologic  convulsions,  I  estimate  very  low. 
Savages  are  not  inductive  philosophers,  and  by  no 
thing  short  of  a  miracle  could  they  preserve  the 
remembrance  of  even  the  most  terrible  catastrophe 
beyond  a  few  generations.  Nor  has  any  such  occur 
red  within  the  ken  of  history  of  sufficient  magnitude 
to  make  a  very  permanent  or  wide-spread  impression. 
Not  physics,  but  metaphysics,  is  the  exciting  cause 
of  these  beliefs  in  periodical  convulsions  of  the  globe. 
The  idea  of  matter  cannot  be  separated  from  that  of 

1  Conquest  of  Mexico,  i.  p.  61. 


200    MYTHS  OF  CREATION,  DELUGE,  AND  LAST  DAY. 

time,  and  time  and  eternity  are  contradictory  terms. 
Common  words  show  this  connection.  World,  for 
example,  in  the  old  language  waereld,  from  the  root 
to  wear,  by  derivation  means  an  age  or  cycle  (Grimm). 

In  effect  a  myth  of  creation  is  nowhere  found 
among  primitive  nations.  It  seems  repugnant  to 
their  reason.  Dry  land  and  animate  life  had  a  begin 
ning,  but  not  matter.  A  series  of  constructions  and 
demolitions  may  conveniently  be  supposed  for  these. 
The  analogy  of  nature,  as  seen  in  the  vernal  flowers 
springing  up  after  the  desolation  of  winter,  of  the 
sapling  sprouting  from  the  fallen  trunk,  of  life  every 
where  rising  from  death,  suggests  such  a  view. 
Hence  arose  the  belief  in  Epochs  of  Nature,  elabo 
rated  by  ancient  philosophers  into  the  Cycles  of  the 
Stoics,  the  Great  Days  of  Brahm,  long  periods  of 
time  rounded  off  by  sweeping  destructions,  the  Cata 
clysms  and  Ekpyrauses  of  the  universe.  Some 
thought  in  these  all  beings  perished ;  others  that  a 
few  survived.1  This  latter  and  more  common  view 
is  the  origin  of  the  myth  of  the  deluge.  How  fami 
liar  such  speculations  were  to  the  aborigines  of 
America  there  is  abundant  evidence  to  show. 

The  early  Algonkin  legends  do  not  speak  of  an 
antediluvian  race,  nor  of  any  family  who  escaped  the 

1  For  instance,  Epictetus  favors  the  opinion  that  at  the  sol 
stices  of  the  great  year  not  only  all  human  beings,  but  even  the 
gods,  are  annihilated ;  and  speculates  whether  at  such  times 
Jove  feels  lonely  (Discourses,  bk.  iii.  chap.  13).  Macrobius,  so 
far  from  coinciding  with  him,  explains  the  great  antiquity  of 
Egyptian  civilization  by  the  hypothesis  that  that  country  is  so 
happily  situated  between  the  pole  and  equator,  as  to  escape  both 
the  deluge  and  conflagration  of  the  great  cycle  (Somnium 
Scipionis,  lib.  ii.  cap.  10). 


THE  AMERICAN  FLOOD  MYTHS.  201 

waters.  Michabo,  the  spirit  of  the  dawn,  their  su 
preme  deity,  alone  existed,  and  by  his  power  formed 
and  peopled  it.  Nor  did  their  neighbors,  the  Dakotas, 
though  firm  in  the  belief  that  the  globe  had  once 
been  destroyed  by  the  waters,  suppose  that  any  had 
escaped.1  The  same  view  was  entertained  by  the 
Nicaraguans2  and  the  Botocudos  of  Brazil.  The  lat 
ter  attributed  its  destruction  to  the  moon  falling  to 
the  earth  from  time  to  time.3 

Much  the  most  general  opinion,  however,  was  that 
some  few  escaped  the  desolating  element  by  one  of 
those  means  most  familiar  to  the  narrator,  by  ascend 
ing  some  mountain,  on  a  raft  or  canoe,  in  a  cave,  or 
even  by  climbing  a  tree.  No  doubt  some  of  these 
legends  have  been  modified  by  Christian  teachings ; 
but  many  of  them  are  so  connected  with  local  pecu 
liarities  and  ancient  religious  ceremonies,  that  no  un 
biased  student  can  assign  them  wholly  to  that  source, 
as  Professor  Yater  has  done,  even  if  the  authorities 
for  many  of  them  were  less  trustworthy  than  they 
are.  There  are  no  more  common  heirlooms  in  the 
traditional  lore  of  the  red  race.  Nearly  every  old 
author  quotes  one  or  more  of  them.  They  present 
great  uniformity  of  outline,  and  rather  than  engage 
in  repetitions  of  little  interest,  they  can  be  more  pro 
fitably  studied  in  the  aggregate  than  in  detail. 

|  By  far  the  greater  number  represent  the  last  de 
struction  of  the  world  to  have  been  by  water.  A  few, 
however,  the  Takahlis  of  the  North  Pacific  coast^the 
Yurucares  of  the  Bolivian  (Jordilieras,  and  the  Mbo- 

1  Schoolcraft,  Ind.  Tribes,  iii.  p.  263,  iv.  p.  230. 

2  Oviedo,  Hist,  du  Nicaragua,  pp.  22,  27. 

3  Miiller,  Amer.  Urrelig.,  p.  254,  from  Max  and  Denis. 


202     MYTHS  OF  CREATION,  DELUGE,  AND  LAST  DAY. 

cobi  of  Paraguay,  attribute  it  to  a  general  conflagration 
which  swept  over  the  earth,  consuming  every  living 
thing  except  a  few  who  took  refuge  in  a  deep  cave.1 
The  more  common  opinion  of  a  submersion  gave  rise 
to  those  traditions  of  a  universal  flood  so  frequently 
recorded  by  travellers,  and  supposed  by  many  to  be 
reminiscences  of  that  of  Noah. 

There  are,  indeed,  some  points  of  striking  similarity 
between  the  deluge  myths  of  Asia  and  America.  It 
has  been  called  a  peculiarity  of  the  latter  that  in  them 
the  person  saved  is  always  the  first  man.  This,  though 
not  without  exception,  is  certainly  the  general  rule. 
But  these  first  men  were  usually  the  highest  deities 
known  to  their  nations,  the  only  creators  of  the  world, 
and  the  guardians  of  the  race.2 

(jyjoreover,  in  the  oldest  Sanscrit  legend  of  the  flood 
in  the  Zatapatha  Brahmana,  Manu  is  also  the  first 
man,  and  by  his  own  efforts  creates  offspring.3 

A  later  Sanscrit  work  assigns  to  Manu  the  seven 
Eichis  or  shining  ones  as  companions.  Seven  was 
also  the  number  of  persons  in  the  ark  of  Noah.'j  Cu- 

1  Morse,  Eep.  on  the  Ind.   Tribes,  App.  p.  346 ;   D'Orbigny, 
Frag.  d?un  Voyage  dans  VAmer.  Merid.,  p.  512. 

2  When,  as  in  the  case  of  one  of  the  Mexican  Noahs,  Coxcox, 
this  does  not  seem  to  hold  good,  it  is  probably  owing  to  a  loss  of 
the  real  form  of  the  myth.     Coxcox  is  also  known  by  the  name 
of  Cipactli,  Fish-god,  and  Huehue  tonaca  cipactli,  Old  Fish-god 
of  Our  Flesh. 

3  My  knowledge  of  the  Sanscrit  form  of  the  flood-myth  is  drawn 
principally  from  the  dissertation  of  Professor  Felix  Neve,  entitled 
La  Tradition  Indienne  du  Deluge  dans  sa  Forme  la  plus  ancienne, 
Paris,  1851.     There  is  in  the  oldest  versions  no  distinct  reference 
to  an  antediluvian  race,  and  in  India  Manu  is  by  common  consent 
the  Adam  as  well  as  the  Noah  of  their  legends. 


THE  AMERICAN  ARARATS.  203 

riously  enough  one  Mexican  and  one  early  Peruvian 
myth  give  out  exactly  seven  individuals  as  saved  in 
their  floods.1  This  coincidence  arises  from  the  mystic 
powers  attached  to  the  number  seven,  derived  from  its 
frequent  occurrence  in  astrology.  Proof  of  this  ap 
pears  by  comparing  the  later  and  the  older  versions 
of  this  myth,  either  in  the  book  of  Genesis,  where 
the  latter  is  distinguished  by  the  use  of  the  word 
Elohim  for  Jehovah,2  or  the  Sanscrit  account  in  the 
Zatapatha  Brahmana  with  those  in  the  later  Puranas.3 
In  both  instances  the  number  seven  hardly  or  at  all 
occurs  in  the  oldest  version,  while  it  is  constantly 
repeated  in  those  of  later  dates. 

As  the  mountain  or  rather  mountain  chain  of  Ara 
rat  was  regarded  with  veneration  wherever  the  Se 
mitic  accounts  were  known,  so  in  America  heights 
were  pointed  out  with  becoming  reverence  as  those 
on  which  the  few  survivors  of  the  dreadful  scenes  of 
the  deluge  were  preserved.  On  the  Eed  Eiver  near 
the  village  of  the  Caddoes  was  one  of  these,  a  small 
natural  eminence,  "to  which  all  the  Indian  tribes  for 
a  great  distance  around  pay  devout  homage,"  accord 
ing  to  Dr.  Sibley.4  The  Cerro  Naztarny  on  the  Bio 
Grande,  the  peak  of  Old  Zuni  in  New  Mexico,  that 
of  Colhuacan  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  Mount  Apoala  in 

1  Prescott,  Conquest  of  Peru,  i.  p.  88 ;  Codex  Vaticanus,  No. 
3776,  in  Kingsborough. 

2  And  also  various  peculiarities  of  style  and  language  lost  in 
translation.     The  two«accounts  of  the  Deluge  are  given  side  by 
side  in  Dr.  Smith's  Dictionary  of  the  Bible  under  the  word  Pen 
tateuch. 

3  See  the  dissertation  of  Prof.  Neve  referred  to  above. 

4  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  i.  p.  729.     Date  of 
legend,  1801. 


204     MYTHS  OF  CREATION,  DELUGE,  AND  LAST  DAY. 

Upper  Mixteca,  and  Mount  Neba  in  the  province  of 
Guaymi,  are  some  of  many  elevations  asserted  by  the 
neighboring  nations  to  have  been  places  of  refuge  fbr 
their  ancestors  when  the  fountains  of  the  greatrlleep 
Jaxake  forth. 

One  of  the  Mexican  traditions  related  by  Torque  - 
mada  identified  this  with  the  mountain  of  Tlaloc  in 
the  terrestrial  paradise,  and  added  that  one  of  the 
seven  demigods  who  escaped  commenced  the  pyramid 
of  Cholula  iii  its  memory.  He  intended  that  its 
summit  should  reach  the  clouds,  but  the  gods,  angry 
at  his  presumption,  drove  away  the  builders  with 
lightning.  This  has  a  suspicious  resemblance  to 
Bible  stories.  Equally  fabulous  was  the  retreat  of 
the  Araucanians.  It  was  a  three-peaked  mountain 
which  had  the  property  of  floating  on  water,  called 
Theg-Theg,  the  Thunderer.  This  they  believed  would 
preserve  them  in  the  next  as  it  did  in  the  last  cata 
clysm,  and  as  its  only  inconvenience  was  that  it  ap 
proached  too  near  the  sun,  they  always  kept  on  hand 
wooden  bowls  to  use  as  parasols.1 
JThe  intimate  connection  that  once  existed  between 
the  myths  of  the  deluge  and  those  of  the  creation  is 
illustrated  by  the  part  assigned  to  birds  in  so  many 
of  them.  They  fly  to  and  fro  over  the  waves  ere  any 
land  appears,  though  they  lose  in  great  measure  the 
significance  of  bringing  it  forth,  attached  to  them  in 
the  cosmogonies  as  emblems  of  the  divine  spirit. 
The  dovofiiTtne  Hebrew  account  Appears  in  that  of 
the  Algo»kins  as  a  raven,  which  Michabo  sent  out 
to  search  for  land  before  the  muskrat  brought  it  to 

1  Molina,  Hist,  of  Chili,  ii.  p.  82. 


THE  BIRD  SYMBOL.  205 

him  from  the  bottom.  LA  jraven  also  in  the  Atha 
pascan  myth  saved  their  ancestors  from  the  general 
flood,  and  in  this  instance  it  is  distinctly  identified 
with  the  mighty  thunder  bird,  who  at  the  beginning 
ordered  the  earth  from  the  depths.  Prometheus-like, 
it  brought  fire  from  heaven,  and  saved  them  from 
a  second  death  by  cold.1  Precisely  the  same  benefi 
cent  actions  were  attributed  by  the  Natchez  to  the 
small  red  cardinal  bird,2  and  by  the  Mandans  and 
Cherokees  an  active  participation  in  the  event  was 
assigned  to  wild  pigeons.  The  Navajos  and  Aztecs 
thought  that  instead  of  being  drowned  by  the  waters 
the  human  race  were  transformed  into  birds  and  thus 
escaped.  In  all  these  and  similar  legends,  the  bird  is 
a  relic  of  the  cosmogonal  myth  which  explained  the 
origin  of  the  world  from  the  action  of  the  winds, 
under  the  image  of  the  bird,  on  the  primeval  ocean.  ~j 

The  Mexican  Codex  Yaticanus  No.  3738  represents 
after  the  picture  of  the  deluge  a  bird  perched  on  the 
summit  of  a  tree,  and  at  its  foot  men  in  the  act  of 
marching.  This  has  been  interpreted  to  mean  that 
after  the  deluge  men  were  dumb  until  a  dove  distri 
buted  to  them  the  gift  of  speech.  The  New  Mexican 
tribes  related  that  all  except  the  leader  of  those  who 
escaped  to  the  mountains  lost  the  power  of  utterance  ' 
by  terror,3  and  the  Quiches  that  the  antediluvian 
race  were  "  puppets,  men  of  wood,  without  intelli 
gence  or  language."  These  stories,  so  closely  re 
sembling  that  of  the  confusion  of  tongues  at  the  tower 
of  Babel  or  Borsippa,  are  of  doubtful  authenticity. 

1  Richardson,  Arctic,  Expedition,  p.  239. 

2  Dumont,  Mems.  Hist,  sur  la  Louisiane,  i.  p.  163. 

3  Sckoolcraft,  2nd.  Tribes,  v.  p.  686. 


206     MYTHS  OF  CREATION,  DELUGE,  AND  LAST  DAY. 

The  first  is  an  entirely  erroneous  interpretation,  as 
has  been  shown  by  Senor  Kamirez,  director  of  the 
Museum  of  Antiquities  at  Mexico.  The  name  of  the 
bird  in  the  Aztec  tongue  was  identical  with  the  word 
departure,  and  this  is  its  signification  in  the  painting.1 

Stories  of  giants  in  the  days  of  old,  figures  of 
mighty  proportions  looming  up  through  the  mist  of 
ages,  are  common  property  to  every  nation.  The 
Mexicans  and  Peruvians  had  them  as  well  as  others, 
but  their  connection  with  the  legends  of  the  flood 
and  the  creation  is  incidental  and  secondary.  Were 
the  case  otherwise,  it  would  offer  no  additional  point 
of  similarity  to  the  Hebrew  myth,  for  the  word 
rendered  giants  in  the  phrase,  "  and  there  were  giants 
in  those  days,"  has  no  such  meaning  in  the  original. 
It  is  a  blunder  which  crept  into  the  Septuagint,  and 
has  been  cherished  ever  since,  along  with  so  many 
others  in  the  received  text. 

A  few  specimens  will  serve  as  examples  of  all  these 
American  flood  myths.  The  Abbe  Brasseur  has 
translated  one  from  the  Codex  Chimalpopoca,  a  work 
in  the  Nahuatl  language  of  Ancient  Mexico,  written 
about  half  a  century  after  the  conquest.  It  is  as 
follows : — 

"  And  this  year  was  that  of  Ce-calli,  and  on  the 
first  day  all  was  lost.  The  mountain  itself  was  sub- 
merged'  in  the  water,  and  the  water  remained  tranquil 
for  fifty-two  springs. 

"  Now  towards  the  close  of  the  year,  Titlahuan 
had  forewarned  the  man  named  Nata  and  his  wife 
named  Nena,  saying,  'Make  no  more  pulque,  but 
straightway  hollow  out  a  large  cypress,  and  enter  it 

1  Desjardins,  Le  Perou  avant  la  Conq.  Espagn.,  p.  27. 


THE  QUICHE  FLOOD-MYTH.  207 

when  in  the  month  Tozoztli  the  water  shall  approach 
the  sky.'  They  entered  it,  and  when  Titlacahuan 
had  closed  the  door  he  said,  '  Thou  shalt  eat  but  a 
single  ear  of  maize,  and  thy  wife  but  one  also.' 

"  As  soon  as  they  had  finished  [eating],  they  went 
forth  and  the  water  was  tranquil ;  for  the  log  did  not 
move  any  more ;  and  opening  it  they  saw  many  fish. 

"Then  they  built  a  fire,  rubbing  together  pieces  of 
wood,  and  they  roasted  the  fish.  The  gods  Citlalli- 
nicue  and  Citlallatonac  looking  below  exclaimed, 
1  Divine  Lord,  what  means  that  fire  below  ?  Why 
do  they  thus  smoke  the  heavens  ?' 

"  Straightway  descended  Titlacahuan  Tezcatlipoca, 
and  commenced  to  scold,  saying,  '  What  is  this  fire 
doing  here?'  And  seizing  the  fishes  he  moulded 
their  hinder  parts  and  changed  their  heads,  and  they 
were  at  once  transformed  into  dogs."1 

That  found  in  the  oft  quoted  legends  of  the  Quiches 
is  to  this  effect : — 

"  Then  by  the  will  of  the  Heart  of  Heaven  the 
waters  were  swollen  and  a  great  flood  came  upon  the 
mannikins  of  wood.  For  they  did  not  think  nor 
speak  of  the  Creator  who  had  created  them,  and  who 
had  caused  their  birth.  They  were  drowned,  and  a 
thick  resin  fell  from  heaven. 

"  The  bird  Xecotcovach  tore  out  their  eyes ;  the 
bird  Camulatz  cut  off  their  heads;  the  bird  Cotzbalam 
devoured  their  flesh ;  the  bird  Tecumbalam  broke 
their  bones  and  sinews,  and  ground  them  into 
powder."2 

1  Cod.  Chimalpopoca,  in  Brasseur,  Hist,  du  Mexique,  Pieces 
Justificatives. 

2  These  four  birds,  whose  names  have  lost  their  signification, 


208     MYTHS  OF  CREATION,  DELUGE,  AND  LAST  DAY. 

"  Because  they  had  not  thought  of  their  Mother 
and  Father,  the  Heart  of  Heaven,  whose  name  is 
Hurakan,  therefore  the  face  of  the  earth,  grew  dark 
and  a  pouring  rain  commenced,  raining  by  day,  rain 
ing  by  night. 

"  Then  all  sorts  of  beings,  little  and  great,  gathered 
together  to  abuse  the  men  to  their  faces;  and  all 
spoke,  their  mill-stones,  their  plates,  their  cups,  their 
dogs,  their  hens. 

"  Said  the  dogs  and  hens,  '  Very  badly  have  you 
treated  us,  and  you  have  bitten  us.  Now  we  bite 
you  in  turn.' 

"  Said  the  mill-stones,  (  Very  much  were  we  tor 
mented  by  you,  and  daily,  daily,  night  and  day.  it. 
was  squeak,  squeak,  screech,  screech,  for  your  sake. 
Now  yourselves  shall  feel  our  strength,  and  we  will 
grind  your  flesh,  and  make  meal  of  your  bodies,'  said 
the  mill-stones.1 

"  And  this  is  what  the  dogs  said,  '  Why  did  you 
not  give  us  our  food  ?  No  sooner  did  we  come  near 
than  you  drove  us  away,  and  the  stick  was  always 
within  reach  when  you  were  eating,  because,  forsooth, 
we  were  not  able  to  talk.  Now  we  will  use  our  teeth 
and  eat  you,'  said  the  dogs,  tearing  their  faces. 

"  And  the  cups  and  dishes  said,  '  Pain  and  misery 
you  gave  us,  smoking  our  tops  and  sides,  cooking  us 

represent  doubtless  the  four  winds,  or  the  four  rivers,  which,  as 
in  so  many  legends,  are  the  active  agents  in  overwhelming  the 
world  in  its  great  crises. 

1  The  word  rendered  mill-stone,  in  the  original  means  those 
large  hollowed  stones  on  which  the  women  were  accustomed  to 
bruise  the  maize.  The  imitative  sounds  for  which  I  have  substi 
tuted  others  in  English,  are  in  Quiche,  holi,  holi,  huqui,  huqui. 


THE  ALGONKIN  FLOOD-MYTH.  209 

over  the  fire,  burning  and  hurting  us  as  if  we  had  no 
feeling.1  Now  it  is  your  turn,  and  you  shall  burn,' 
said  the  cups  insultingly. 

u  Then  ran  the  men  hither  and  thither  in  despair. 
They  climbed  to  the  roofs  of  the  houses,  but  the 
houses  crumbled  under  their  feet;  they  tried  to 
mount  to  the  tops  of  the  trees,  but  the  trees  hurled 
them  far  from  them;  they  sought  refuge  in  the 
caverns,  but  the  caverns  shut  before  them. 

"  Thus  was  accomplished  the  rain  of  this  race, 
destined  to  be  destroyed  and  overthrown ;  thus  were 
they  given  over  to  destruction  and  contempt.  And 
it  is  said  that  their  posterity  are  those  little  monkeys 
who  live  in  the  woods."2 

The  Algonkin  tradition  has  often  been  referred  to. 
Many  versions  of  it  are  extant,  the  oldest  and  most 
authentic  of  which  is  that  translated  from  the  Mon- 
tagnais  dialect  by  Father  le  Jeune,  in  1634. 

"  One  day  as  Messou  was  hunting,  the  wolves  which 
he  used  as  dogs  entered  a  great  lake  and  were  detained 
there. 

"  Messou  looking  for  them  everywhere,  a  bird  said 
to  him,  '  I  see  them  in  the  middle  of  this  lake.' 

"  He  entered  the  lake  to  rescue  them,  but  the  lake 
overflowing  its  banks  covered  the  land  and  destroyed 
the  world. 

"  Messou,  very  much  astonished  at  this,  sent  out 
the  raven  to  find  a  piece  of  earth  wherewith  to  re- 

1  Brasseur  translates  "quoique  nous  ne  sentissions  rien,"  but 
Ximenes,  "nos  quemasteis,  y  sentimos  el  dolor."     As  far  as  I 
can  make  out  the  original,  it  is  the  negative  conditional  as  I  have 
given  it  in  the  text. 

2  Le,  Livre  Sacre,  p.  27 ;  Ximenes,  Or.  de  los  Indios,  p.  13. 

14 


210    MYTHS  OF  CREATION,  DELUGE,  AND  LAST  DAY. 

build  the  land,  but  the  bird  could  find  none;  then  he 
ordered  the  otter  to  dive  for  some,  but  the  animal 
returned  empty ;  at  last  he  sent  down  the  muskrat, 
who  came  back  with  ever  so  small  a  piece,  which, 
however,  was  enough  for  Messou  to  form  the  land  on 
which  we  are. 

"  The  trees  having  lost  their  branches,  he  shot 
arrows  at  their  naked  trunks  which  became  their 
limbs,  revenged  himself  on  those  who  had  detained 
his  wolves,  and  having  married  the  muskrat,  by  it 
peopled  the  world." 

Finally  may  be  given  the  meagre  legend  of  the 
Tupis  of  Brazil,  as  heard  by  Hans  Staden,  a  prisoner 
among  them  about  1550,  and  Coreal,  a  later  voyager. 
Their  ancient  songs  relate  that  a  long  time  ago  a 
certain  very  powerful  Mair,  that  is  to  say,  a  stranger, 
who  bitterly  hated  their  ancestors,  compassed  their 
destruction  by  a  violent  inundation.  Only  a  very 
few  succeeded  in  escaping — some  by  climbing  trees, 
others  in  caves.  When  the  waters  subsided  the 
remnant  came  together,  and  by  gradual  increase 
\  populated  the  world.1 

1  The  American  nations  among  whom  a  distinct  and  well- 
authenticated  myth  of  the  deluge  was  found  are  as  follows  i^Atha- 
pascas,  Algonkins,  Iroquois,  Cherokees,  Chikasaws,  Caddos, 
Natchez,  Dakotas,  ApacHes,  Navajos,  Mandans,  Pueblo  Indians, 
Aztecs,  Mixjt,ecs,  Zapotecs,  Tlascalans,  Mechoacans,  Toltecs, 
Nahnas,  Mayas,  Quiches,  Haitiansfrmtives  of  Darien  and  Pop_o- 
yan,  Muyj&as,  Quichuas,  Tuppmambas,  AchaguaiyA-raucanians, 
and  doubtless  others".  The  article  by  M.  cTe*  CharencyTn  the 
Bevue  Americaine,  Le  Deluge,  d'apres  les  Traditions  Indiennes 
de  V  Amerique  du  Nord,  contains  some  valuable  extracts,  but  is 
marred  by  a  lack  of  criticism  of  sources,  and  makes  no  attempt 
at  analysis,  nor  offers  for  their  existence  a  rational  explana- 
tion. 
^k 


THE  TUPI  FL  0  OD-MYTIL  21 1 

Or,  it  is  given  by  an  equally  ancient  authority  as 
follows : — 

"  Monan,  without  beginning  or  end,  author  of  all 
that  is,  seeing  the  ingratitude  of  men,  and  their  con 
tempt  for  him  who  had  made  them  thus  joyous, 
withdrew  from  them,  and  sent  upon  them  tata,  the 
divine  fire,  which  burned  all  that  was  on  the  surface 
of  the  earth.  He  swept  about  the  fire  in  such  a  way 
that  in  places  he  raised  mountains,  and  in  others  dug 
valleys.  Of  all  men  one  alone,  Irin  Monge,  was 
saved,  whom  Monan  carried  into  the  heaven.  He, 
seeing  all  things  destroyed,  spoke  thus  to  Monan : 
*  Wilt  thou  also  destroy  the  heavens  and  their  garni 
ture?  Alas!  henceforth  where  will  be  our  home? 
Why  should  I  live,  since  there  is  none  other  of  my 
kind?'  Then  Monan  was  so  filled  with  pity  that  he 
poured  a  deluging  rain  on  the  earth,  which  quenched 
the  fire,  and,  flowing  from  all  sides,  formed  the  ocean, 
which  we  call  parana,  the  bitter  waters."1 

In  these  narratives  I  have  not  attempted  to  soften 
the  asperities  nor  conceal  the  childishness  which  run 
through  them.  But  there  is  no  occasion  to  be  aston 
ished  at  these  peculiarities,  nor  to  found  upon  them 
any  disadvantageous  opinion  of  the  mental  powers  of 
their  authors  and  believers.  We  can  go  back  to  the 

1  line  Fete  Bresilfonne  celebre  a  Rouen  en  1550,  par  M.  Ferdi 
nand  Denis,  p.  82  (quoted  in  the  Revue  Americaine,  ii.  p.  317). 
The  native  words  in  this  account  guarantee  its  authenticity.  In 
the  Tupi  language,  tata  means  fire ;  parana,  ocean ;  Monan, 
perhaps  from  mondne,  to  mingle,  to  temper,  as  the  potter  the 
clay  (Dias,  Diccionario  da  Lingua  Tupy :  Lipsia,  1858).  Irin 
monge  may  be  an  old  form  from  mongat-iron,  to  set  in  order,  to 
restore,  to  improve  (Nartius,  Beitrage  zur  Ethnographic  und 
Sprachenkunde  Amerika's,  ii.  p.  70). 


212    MYTHS  OF  CREATION,  DELUGE,  AXD  LAST  DAY. 

cradle  of  our  own  race  in  Central  Asia,  and  find  tra 
ditions  every  whit  as  infantile.  I  cannot  refrain  from 
adding  the  earliest  Aryan  myth  of  the  same  great 
occurrence,  as  it  is  handed  down  to  .us  in  ancient 
Sanscrit  literature.  It  will  be  seen  that  it  is  little,  if 
at  all,  superior  to  those  just  rehearsed. 

"Early  in  the  morning  they  brought  to  Maim 
water  to  wash  himself;  when  he  had  well  washed,  a 
fish  came  into  his  hands. 

"  It  said  to  him  these  words :  '  Take  care  of  me  ;  I 
will  save  thee.'  'What  wilt  thou  save  me  from?' 
'A  deluge  will  sweep  away  all  creatures;  I  wish  thee 
to  escape.'  '  But  how  shall  I  take  care  of  thee?' 

"The  fish  said:  'While  we  are  small  there  is 
more  than  one  danger  of  death,  for  one  fish  swallows 
another.  Thou  must,  in  the  first  place,  put  me  in  a 
vase.  Then,  when  I  shall  exceed  it  in  size,  thou 
must  dig  a  deep  ditch,  and  place  me  in  it.  When 
I  grow  too  large  for  it,  throw  me  in  the  sea,  for  I  shall 
then  be  beyond  the  danger  of  death.' 

"Soon  it  became  a  great  fish;  it  grew,  in  fact, 
astonishingly.  Then  it  said  to  Manu,  'In  such  a 
year  the  Deluge  will  come.  Thou  must  build  a  ves 
sel,  and  then  pay  me  homage.  When  the  waters  of 
the  Deluge  mount  up,  enter  the  vessel.  I  will  save 
thee.' 

"  When  Manu  had  thus  taken  care  of  the  fish,  he 
put  it  in  the  sea.  The  same  year  that  the  fish  had 
said,  in  this  very  year,  having  built  the  vessel,  he 
paid  the  fish  homage.  Then  the  Deluge  mounting, 
he  entered  the  vessel.  The  fish  swam  near  him.  To 
its  horn  Manu  fastened  the  ship's  rope,  with  which 
the  fish  passed  the  Mountain  of  the  North. 


THE  EPOCHS  OF  NA TURE.  21 3 

"  The  fish  said,  '  See  !  I  have  saved  thee.  Fasten 
the  vessel  to  a  tree,  so  that  the  water  does  not  float 
thee  onward  when  thou  art  on  the  mountain  top.  As 
the  water  decreases,  thou  wilt  descend  little  by  little.7 
Thus  Manu  descended  gradually.  Therefore  to  the 
mountain  of  the  north,  remains  the  name,  Descent  of 
Manu.  The  Deluge  had  destroyed  all  creatures; 
Manu  survived  alone."1 

Hitherto  I  have  spoken  only  of  the  last  convulsion 
which  swept  over  the  face  of  the  globe,  and  of  but 
one  cycle  which  preceded  the  present.  Most  of  the 
more  savage  tribes  contented  themselves  with  this, 
but  it  is  instructive  to  observe  how,  as  they  advanced 
in  culture,  and  the  mind  dwelt  more  intently  on  the 
great  problems  of  Life  and  Time,  they  were  impelled 
to  remove  further  and  further  the  dim  and  mysterious 
Beginning.  The  Peruvians  imagined  that  two  de 
structions  had  taken  place,  the  first  by  a  famine,  the 
second  by  a  flood — according  to  some  a  few  only 
escaping — but,  after  the  more  widely  accepted  opin 
ion,  accompanied  by  the  absolute  extirpation  of  the 
race.  .  Three  eggs,  which  dropped  from  heaven, 
hatched  out  the  present  race ;  one  of  gold,  from  which 
came  the  priests;  one  of  silver,  which  produced  the 
warriors ;  and  the  last  of  copper,  source  of  the  com 
mon  people.* 

1  Professor  Neve,  ubi  supra,  from  the  Zatapatha  Brahmana. 

2  Avendano,  Sermones,  Lima,  1648,  in  Rivero  and  Tschudi, 
Peruv.  Antiqs.,  p.  114.     In  the  year  1600,  Oiiate  found  on  the 
coast  of  California  a  tribe  whose  idol  held  in  one  hand  a  shell 
containing  three  eggs,  in  the  other  an  ear  of  maize,  while  before 
it  was  placed  a  cup  of  water.     Vizcaino,  who  visited  the  same 
people  a  few  years  afterwards,  mentions  that  they  kept  in  their 
temples  tame  ravens,    and  looked  upon  them  as  sacred  birds 


214     MYTHS  OF  CREATION,  DELUGE,  AND  LAST  DAY. 

The  Mayas  of  Yucatan  increased  the  previous 
worlds  by  one,  making  the  present  the  fourth.  Two 
cycles  had  terminated  by  devastating  plagues.  They 
were  called  "  the  sudden  deaths,"  for  it  was  said  so 
swift  and  mortal  was  the  pest,  that  the  buzzards  and 
other  foul  birds  dwelt  in  the  houses  of  the  cities,  and 
ate  the  bodies  of  their  former  owners.  The  third 
closed  either  by  a  hurricane,  which  blew  from  all 
four  of  the  cardinal  points  at  once,  or  else,  as  others 
said,  by  an  inundation,  which  swept  across  the  world, 
swallowing  all  things  in  its  mountainous  surges.1 

As  might  be  expected,  the  vigorous  intellects  of 
the  Aztecs  impressed  upon  this  myth  a  fixity  of  out 
line  nowhere  else  met  with  on  the  continent,  and 
wove  it  intimately  into  their  astrological  reveries  and 
religious  theories.  Unaware  of  its  prevalence  under 
more  rudimentary  forms  throughout  the  continent, 
Alexander  von  Humboldt  observed  that,  "  of  all  the 
traits  of  analogy  which  can  be  pointed  out  between 
the  monuments,  manners,  and  traditions  of  Asia  and 
America,  the  most  striking  is  that  offered  by  the 
Mexican  mythology  in  the  cosmogonical  fiction  of 
the  periodical  destructions  and  regenerations  of  the 

(Torquemada,  Mon.  Ind.,  lib.  v.  cap.  40  in  Waitz).  Tims,  in  all 
parts  of  the  continent  do  we  find  the  bird,  as  a  symbol  of  the 
clouds,  associated  with  the  rains  and  the  harvests. 

1  The  deluge  was  called  hun  yecil,  which,  according  to  Cogol- 
ludo,  means  the  inundation  of  the  trees,  for  all  the  forests  were 
swept  away  (Hist,  de  Yucathan,  lib.  iv.  cap.  o).  Bishop  Landa 
adds,  to  substantiate  the  legend,  that  all  the  woods  of  the  penin 
sula  appear  as  if  they  had  been  planted  at  one  time,  and  that  to 
look  at  them  one  would  say  they  had  been  trimmed  with  scissors 
(ReL  de  las  Cosas  de  Yucatan,  58,  60).' 


THE  AZTEC  SUNS.  215 

universe."1  Yet  it  is  but  the  same  fiction  that  ex 
isted  elsewhere,  somewhat  more  definitely  outlined. 
There  exists  great  discrepancy  between  the  different 
authorities,  both  as  to  the  number  of  Aztec  ages  or 
Suns,  as  they  were  called,  their  durations,  their  ter 
minations,  and  their  names.  The  preponderance  of 
testimony  is  in  favor  of  four  antecedent  cycles,  the 
present  being  the  fifth.  The  interval  from  the  first 
creation  to  the  commencement  of  the  present  epoch, 
owing  to  the  equivocal  meaning  of  the  numeral  signs 
expressing  it  in  the  picture  writings,  may  have  been 
either  15228,  2316,  or  1404  solar  years.  Why  these 
numbers  should  have  been  chosen,  no  one  has 
guessed.  It  has  been  looked  for  in  combinations  of 
numbers  connected  with  the  calendar,  but  so  far  in 
vain. 

While  most  authorities  agree  as  to  the  character 
of  the  destructions  which  terminated  the  suns,  they 
vary  much  as  to  their  sequence.  Water,  winds,  fire, 
and  hunger,  are  the  agencies,  and  in  one  Codex  (Yati- 
canus)  occur  in  this  order.  Gama  gives  the  sequence, 
hunger,  winds,  fire,  and  water;  Humboldt  hunger,  fire, 
winds,  and  water ;  Boturini  water,  hunger,  winds, 
fire.  As  the  cycle  ending  by  a  famine,  is  called  the 
Age  of  Earth,  Ternaux-Compans,  the  distinguished 
French  Americaniste,  has  imagined  that  the  four  Suns 
correspond  mystically  to  the  domination  exercised  in 
turn  over  the  world  by  its  four  constituent  elements. 
Bat  proof  is  wanting  that  Aztec  philosophers  knew 
the  theory  on  which  this  explanation  reposes. 

Baron  Humboldt   suggested   that  the   suns  were 

1  Vues  des  Cordilleres,  p.  202. 


216    MYTHS  OF  CREATION,  DELUGE,  AND  LAST  DAY. 

"fictions  of  mythological  astronomy,  modified  either 
by  obscure  reminiscences  of  some  great  revolution 
suffered  by  our  planet,  or  by  physical  hypotheses, 
suggested  by  the  sight  of  marine  petrifactions  and 
fossil  remains,"1  while  the  Abbe  Brasseur,  in  his  late 
works  on  ancient  Mexico,  interprets  them  as  exagge 
rated  references  to  historical  events.  As  no  solution 
can  be  accepted  not  equally  applicable  to  the  same 
myth  as  it  appears  in  Yucatan,  Peru,  and  the  hunting 
tribes,  and  to  the  exactly  parallel  teachings  of  the 
Edda,2  the  Stoics,  the  Celts,  and  the  Brahmans,  both 
of  these  must  be  rejected.  And  although  the  Hindoo 
legend  is  so  close  to  the  Aztec,  that  it,  too,  defines 
four  ages,  each  terminating  by  a  general  catastrophe, 
and  each  catastrophe  exactly  the  same  in  both,3  yet 
this  is  not  at  all  indicative  of  a  derivation  from  one 
original,  but  simply  an  illustration  how  the  human 
mind,  under  the  stimulus  of  the  same  intellectual 
cravings,  produces  like  results.  What  these  cravings 
are  has  already  been  shown. 

The  reason  for  adopting  four  ages,  thus  making  -the 

1  Ubi  sup.,  p.  207. 

2  The  Scandinavians  believed  the  universe  had  been  destroyed 
nine  times : — 

Ni  Verdener  yeg  husker, 
Og  ni  Himle, 

says  the  Voluspa  (i.  2,  in  Klee,  Le  Deluge,  p.  220).  I  observe 
some  English  writers  have  supposed  from  these  lines  that  the 
Northmen  believed  in  the  existence  of  nine  abodes  for  the 
blessed.  Such  is  not  the  sense  of  the  original. 

3  At  least  this  is  the  doctrine  of  one  of  the  Shastas.     The  race, 
it  teaches,  has  been  destroyed  four  times ;  first  by  water,  secondly 
by  winds,  thirdly  the  earth  swallowed  them,  and'lastly  fire  con 
sumed  them  (Sepp.,  Ueidenthum  und  Christenthum,  i.  p.  191). 


THE  AZTEC  SUNS.  217 

present  the  fifth,  probably  arose  from  the  sacredness 
of  that  number  in  general ;  but  directly,  because  this 
was  the  number  of  secular  days  in  the  Mexican  week. 
A  parallel  is  offered  by  the  Hebrew  narrative.  In  it 
six  epochs  or  days  precede  the  seventh  or  present 
cycle,  in  which  the  creative  power  rests.  This  latter 
corresponded  to  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  the  day  of  re 
pose  ;  and  in  the  Mexican  calendar  each  fifth  day  was 
also  a  day  of  repose,  employed  in  marketing  and 
pleasure. 

Doubtless  the  theory  of  the  Ages  of  the  world 
was  long  in  vogue  among  the  Aztecs  before  it  re 
ceived  the  definite  form  in  which  we  now  have  it ; 
and  as  this  was  acquired  long  after  the  calendar  was 
fixed,  it  is  every  way  probable  that  the  latter  was 
used  as  a  guide  to  the  former.  Echevarria,  a  good 
authority  on  such  matters,  says  the  number  of  the 
Suns  was  agreed  upon  at  a  congress  of  astrologists, 
within  the  memory  of  tradition.1  Now  in  the  calen 
dar,  these  signs  occur  in  the  order,  earth,  air,  water, 
fire,  corresponding  to  the  days  distinguished  by  the 
symbols  house,  rabbit,  reed,  and  flint.  This  se 
quence,  commencing  with  Tochtli  (rabbit,  air),  is  that 
given  as  that  of  the  Suns  in  the  Codex  Chimalpopoca, 
translated  by  Brasseur,  though  it  seems  a  taint  of 
European  teaching,  when  it  is  added  that  on  the 
seventh  day  of  the  creation  man  was  formed.2 

Neither  Jews  nor  Aztecs,  nor  indeed  any  American 
nation,  appear  to  have  supposed,  with  some  of  the 
old  philosophers,  that  the  present  was  an  exact  repe- 

1  Echevarria  y  Veitia,  Hist,  de  la  Nueva  Espana,  lib.  i.  cap.  4, 
in  Waitz. 

2  Brasseur,  Hist,  du  Mexique,  iii.  p.  495. 

^0?  T 


218    MYTHS  OF  CREATION,  DELUGE,  AXD  LAST  DAY. 

tition  of  previous  cycles,1  but  rather  that  each  was  an 
improvement  on  the  preceding,  a  step  in  endless  pro 
gress.  Nor  did  either  connect  these  beliefs  with 
astronomical  reveries  of  a  great  year,  defined  by  the 
return  of  the  heavenly  bodies  to  one  relative  position 
in  the  heavens.  The  latter  seems  characteristic  of 
the  realism  of  Europe,  the  former  of  the  idealism  of 
the  Orient ;  both  inconsistent  with  the  meagre  astro 
nomy  and  more  scanty  metaphysics  of  the  red  race. 

The  expectation  of  the  end  of  the  world  is  a  natu 
ral  complement  to  the  belief  in  periodical  destruc 
tions  of  our  globe.  As  at  certain  times  past  the  equi 
poise  of  nature  was  lost,  and  the  elements  breaking  the 
chain  of  laws  that  bound  them  ran  riot  over  the  uni 
verse,  involving  all  life  in  one  mad  havoc  and  deso 
lation,  so  in  the  future  we  have  to  expect  that  day  of 
doom,  when  the  ocean  tides  shall  Obey  no  shore,  but 
overwhelm  the  continents  with  their  mountainous 
billows,  or  the  fire,  now  chafing  in  volcanic  craters 
and  smoking  springs,  will  leap  forth  on  the  forests 
and  grassy  meadows,  wrapping  all  things  in  a  wind 
ing  sheet  of  flame,  and  melting  the  very  elements 
with  fervid  heat.  Then,  in  the  language  of  the 
Norse  prophetess,  "shall  the  sun  grow  dark,  the  land 
sink  in  the  waters,  the  bright  stars  be  quenched,  and 
high  flames  climb  heaven  itself."2  These  fearful  fore 
boding  shave  cast  their  dark  shadow  on  every  litera- 

1  The  contrary  has  indeed  been  inferred  from  such  expressions 
of  the  writer  of  the  book  of  Ecclesiastes  as,  "that  which  hath 
been,  is  now,  and  that  which  is  to  be,  hath  already  been"  (chap, 
iii.  15),  and  the  like,  but  they  are  susceptible  of  an  application 
entirely  subjective. 

2  Voluspa,  xiv.  51,  in  Klee,  Le  Deluge. 


THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD.  219 

ture.  The  seeress  of  the  north  does  but  paint  in 
wilder  colors  the  terrible  pictures  of  Seneca,1  and  the 
sibyl  of  the  capitol  only  re-echoes  the  inspired  pre 
dictions  of  Malachi.  "Well  has  the  Christian  poet 
said : — 

Dies  irse,  dies  ilia, 

Solvet  seeclum  in  favilla, 

Testis  David  cum  Sibyla. 

Savage  races,  isolated  in  the  impenetrable  forests 
of  another  continent,  could  not  escape  this  fearful 
looking  for  of  destruction  to  come.  It  oppressed 
their  souls  like  a  weight  of  lead.  On  the  last  night 
of  each  cycle  of  fifty-two  years,  the  Aztecs  extin 
guished  every  fire,  and  proceeded,  in  solemn  proces 
sion,  to  some  sacred  spot.  Then  the  priests,  with 
awe  and  trembling,  sought  to  kindle  a  new  fire  by 
friction.  Momentous  was  the  endeavor,  for  did  it 
fail,  their  fathers  had  taught  them  on  the  morrow  no 
sun  would  rise,  and  darkness,  death,  and  the  waters 
would  descend  forever  on  this  beautiful  world. 

The  same  terror  inspired  the  Peruvians  at  every 
eclipse,  for  some  day,  taught  the  Amautas,  the 
shadow  will  veil  the  sun  forever,  and  land,  moon, 
and  stars  will  be  wrapt  in  the  vortex  of  a  devour 
ing  conflagration  to  know  no  regeneration ;  or  a 
drought  will  wither  every  herb  of  the  field,  suck 
up  the  waters,  and  leave  the  race  to  perish  to  the 
last  creature;  or  the  moon  will  fall  from  her  place 
in  the  heavens  and  involve  all  things  in  her  own 
ruin,  a  figure  of  speech  meaning  that  the  waters 

1  Natur.  Qucestiones,  iii.  cap.  27. 


220    MYTHS  OF  CREATION,  DELUGE,  AND  LAST  DAY. 

would  submerge  the  land.1  In  that  dreadful  day, 
thought  the  Algonkins,  when  in  anger  Michabo  will 
send  a  mortal  pestilence  to  destroy  the  nations,  or, 
stamping  his  foot  on  the  ground,  flames  will  burst 
forth  to  consume  the  habitable  land,  only  a  pair,  or 
only,  at  most,  those  who  have  maintained  inviolate 
the  institutions  he  ordained,  will  he  protect  and  pre 
serve  to  inhabit  the  new  world  he  will  then  fabricate. 
Therefore  they  do  not  speak  of  this  catastrophe  as 
the  end  of  the  world,  but  use  one  of  those  nice  gram 
matical  distinctions  so  frequent  in  American  abori 
ginal  languages,  and  which  can  only  be  imitated,  not 
interpreted,  in  ours,  signifying  "  when  it  will  be  near 
its  end,"  "  when  it  will  no  longer  be  available  for 
man."3 

An  ancient  prophecy  handed  down  from  their 
ancestors  warns  the  Winnebagoes  that  their  nation 
shall  be  annihilated  at  the  close  of  the  thirteenth 
generation.  Ten  have  already  passed,  and  that  now 
living  has  appointed  ceremonies  to  propitiate  the 
powers  of  heaven,  and  mitigate  its  stern  decree.3 
Well  majr  they  be  about  it,  for  there  is  a  gloomy 
probability  that  the  warning  came  from  no  false 
prophet.  Few  tribes  were  destitute  of  such  presenti 
ments.  The  Chikasaw,  the  Mandans  of  the  Missouri, 
the  Pueblo  Indians  of  New  Mexico,  the  Muyscas  of 
Bogota,  the  Botocudos  of  Brazil,  the  Araucanians  of 
Chili,  have  been  asserted  on  testimony  that  leaves  no 

1  Velasco,  Hist,  du  Royaume  du  Quito,  p.   105 ;    Navarrete, 
Viages,  iii.  p.  444. 

2  Rel.  de  la  Nouv.  France,  An  1037,  p.  54  ;  Sckoolcraft,  Ind. 
Tribes,  i.  p.  319,  iv.  p.  420. 

3  Sclioolcraft,  ibid.,  iv.  p.  240. 


THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD.  %  221 

room  for  scepticism,  to  have  entertained  such  fore 
bodings  from  immemorial  time.  Enough  for  the 
purpose  if  the  list  is  closed  with  the  prediction  of  a 
Maya  priest,  cherished  by  the  inhabitants  of  Yucatan 
long  before  the  Spaniard  desolated  their  stately  cities. 
It  is  one  of  those  preserved  by  Father  Lizana,  cure 
of  Itzamal,  and  of  which  he  gives  the  original. 
Other  witnesses  inform  us  that  this  nation  "  had  a 
tradition  that  the  world  would  end,"1  and  probably, 
like  the  Greeks  and  Aztecs,  they  supposed  the  gods 
would  perish  with  it. 

"  At  the  close  of  the  ages,  it  hath  been  decreed, 
Shall  perish  and  vanish  each  weak  god  of  men, 
And  the  world  shall  be  purged  with  a  ravening  fire. 
Happy  the  man  in  that  terrible  day, 
Who  bewails  with  contrition  the  sins  of  his  life,2 
And  meets  without  flinching  the  fiery  ordeal." 


1  Cogolludo,  Hist,  de  Yucathan,  lib.  iv.  cap.  7. 

2  The  Spanish  of  Lizana  is— 

"  En  la  ultima  edad,  segun  esta  determmado, 
Avra  fin  el  culto  de  dioses  vanos  ; 
Y  el  mundo  sera  purificado  con  fuego. 
El  que  esto  viere  sera  llamado  dichoso 
Si  con  dolor  llorare  sus  pecados." 

(Hist,  de  Nuestra  Senora  de  Itzamal,  in  Brasseur,  Hist,  du 
Mexique,  ii.  p.  603).  I  have  attempted  to  obtain  a  more  literal 
rendering  from  the  original  Maya,  but  have  not  been  successful. 


.      CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE    OKIGIN   OF   MAN. 

Usually  man  is  the  EARTH-BORN,  both  in  language  and  myths. — Illustra 
tions  from  the  legends  of  the  Caribs,  Apalachians,  Iroquois,  Quichuas, 
Aztecs,  and  others. — The  underworld. — Man  the  product  of  one  of  the 
primal  creative  powers,  the  Spirit,  or  the  Water,  in  the  myths  of  the 
Athapascas,  Eskimos,  Moxos,  and  others. — Never  literally  derived  from 
an  inferior  species. 

"JVTO  man  can  escape  the  importunate  question, 
•*•'  whence  am  I  ?  The  first  replies  framed  to 
meet  it  possess  an  interest  to  the  thoughtful  mind, 
beyond  that  of  mere  fables.  They  illustrate  the  posi 
tion  in  creation  claimed  by  our  race,  and  the  early 
workings  of  self-consciousness.  Often  the  oldest 
terms  for  man  are  synopses  of  these  replies,  and 
merit  a  more  than  passing  contemplation. 

The  seed  is  hidden  in  the  earth.  Warmed  by  the 
sun,  watered  by  the  rain,  presently  it  bursts  its  dark 
prison-house,  unfolds  its  delicate  leaves,  blossoms, 
and  matures  its  fruit.  Its  work  done,  the  earth 
draws  it  to  itself  again,  resolves  the  various  struc 
tures  into  their  original  mould,  and  the  unending 
round  recommences. 

This  is  the  marvellous  process  that  struck  the  pri 
mitive  mind.  Out  of  the  Earth  rises  life,  to  it  it 
returns.  She  it  is  who  guards  all  germs,  nourishes 
all  beings.  The  Aztecs  painted  her  as  a  woman  with 
countless  breasts,  the  Peruvians  called  her  Mama 


THE  WORD  FOR  MAN.  223 

Allpa,  mother  Earth.  Homo,  Adam,  chamai genes,  what 
do  all  these  words  mean  but  the  earth-born,  the  son 
of  the  soil,  repeated  in  the  poetic  language  of 
Attica  in  anthropos,  he  who  springs  up  as  a  flower  ? 

The  word  that  corresponds  to  the  Latin  homo  in 
American  languages  has  such  singular  uniformity  in 
so  many  of  them,  that  we  might  be  tempted  to  regard 
it  as  a  fragment  of  some  ancient  and  common  tongue, 
their  parent  stem.  In  the  Eskimo  it  is  inuk,  innuk, 
plural  innuit ;  in  Athapasca  it  is  dinni,  tenne  ;  in  Al- 
gonkin,  inini,  lenni,  inwi ;  in  Iroquois,  onwi,  eniha ; 
in  the  Otomi  of  Mexico  n-aniehe ;  in  the  Maya,  inic, 
winic,  windk ;  all  in  North  America,  and  the  number 
might  be  extended.  Of  these  only  the  last  mentioned 
can  plausibly  be  traced  to  a  radical  (unless  the  Iro 
quois  onwi  is  from  onnha  life,  onnhe  to  live).  This 
Father  Ximenes  derives  from  win,  meaning  to  grow, 
to  gain,  to  increase,1  in  which  the  analogy  to  vegetable 
life  is  not  far  off,  an  analogy  strengthened  by  the 
myth  of  that  stock,  which  relates  that  the  first  of 
men  were  formed  of  the  flour  of  maize.2 

In  many  other  instances  religious  legend  carries 
out  this  idea.  The  mythical  ancestor  of  the  Caribs 
created  his  offspring  by  sowing  the  soil  with  stones 
or  with  the  fruit  of  the  Mauritius  palm,  which 

1  Vocabulario  Quiche,  s.  v.,  ed.  Brasseur,  Paris,  1862. 

2  The  Eskimo  innuk,  man,  means  also  a  possessor  or  owner ; 
the  yelk  of  an  egg  ;  and  the  pus  of  an  abscess  (Egede,  Nachrich- 
ten  von  Grdnland,  p.  106).     From  it  is  derived  innuwok,  to  live, 
life.     Probably  innuk  also  means  the  semen  masculinum,  and  in 
its  identification  with  pus,  may  not  there  be  the  solution  of 
that  strange  riddle  which  in  so  many  myths  of  the  West  Indies 
and  Central  America  makes  the  first  of  men  to  be  "the  puru 
lent  one  ?"  (See  ante,  p.  135.) 


224  THE  ORIGIN  OF  MAN. 

sprouted  forth  into  men  and  women,1  while  the  Yuru- 
cares,  much  of  whose  mythology  was  perhaps  bor 
rowed  from  the  Peruvians,  clothed  this  crude  tenet  in 
a  somewhat  more  poetic  form,  fabling  that  at  the 
beginning  the  first  of  men  were  pegged,  Ariel-like,  in 
the  knotty  entrails  of  an  enormous  bole,  until  the  god 
Tiri — a  second  Prospero — released  them  by  cleaving 
it  in  twain.2 

As  in  oriental  legends  the  origin  of  man  from  the 
earth  was  veiled  under  the  story  that  he  was  the  pro 
geny  of  some  mountain  fecundated  by  the  embrace 
of  Mithras  or  Jupiter,  so  the  Indians  often  pointed  to 
some  height  or  some  cavern,  as  the  spot  whence  the 
first  of  men  issued,  adult  and  armed,  from  the  womb 
of  the  All-mother  Earth.  The  oldest  name  of  the 
Alleghany  Mountains  is  Paemotinck  or  Pemolnick, 
an  Algonkin  word,  the  meaning  of  which  is  said  to 
be  "  the  origin  of  the  Indians."3 

The  Witchitas,  who  dwelt  on  the  Eed  River  among 
the  mountains  named  after  them,  have  a  tradition 
that  their  progenitors  issued  from  the  rocks  about 

•  Miiller,  Amer.  TTrrelig.,  pp.  109,  229. 

2  D'Orbigny,  Frag,  d'une   Voy.  dans  V  Amer.  Merid.,  p.  512. 
It  is  still  a  mooted  point  whence  Shakspeare  drew  the  plot  of 
The  Tempest.     The  coincidence  mentioned  in  the  text  between 
some  parts  of  it  and  South  American  mythology  does  not  stand 
alone.     Caliban,  the  savage  and  brutish  native  of  the  island,  is 
undoubtedly  the  word  Carib,  often  spelt  Caribani,  and  Galibani 
in  older  writers  ;  and  his  "dam's  god  Setebos"  was  the  supreme 
divinity  of  the  Patagonians  when  first  visited  by  Magellan.  (Piga- 
fetta,  Viaggio  intorno  al  Globo,  Germ.  Trans.  :  Gotha,  1801,  p. 
247.) 

3  Both  Lederer  and  John  Bartram  assign  it  this  meaning. 
Gallatin  gives  in  the  Powhatan  dialect  the  word  for  mountain  as 
pomottinke,  doubtless  another  form  of  the  same. 


THE  HOLY  HILL  OF  THE  APALACIIIAN  TRIBES.     225 

their  homes,1  and  many  other  tribes  the  Tahkalis, 
Navajos,  Coyoteras,  and  the  Haitians,  for  instance, 
set  up  this  claim  to  be  autochthones.  Most  writers 
have  interpreted  this  simply  to  mean  that  they  knew 
nothing  at  all  about  their  origin,  or  that  they  coined 
these  fables  merely  to  'strengthen  the  title  to  the  terri 
tory  they  inhabited  when  they  saw  the  whites  eagerly 
snatching  it  away  on  every  pretext.  No  doubt  there 
is  some  truth  in  this,  but  if  they  be  carefully  sifted, 
there  is  sometimes  a  deep  historical  significance  in 
these  myths,  which  has  hitherto  escaped  the  observa 
tion  of  students.  An  instance  presents  itself  in  our 
own  country. 

All  those  tribes,  the  Creeks,  Seminoles,  Choctaws, 
Chicasaws,  and  Natchez,  who,  according  to  tradition, 
were  in  remote  times  banded  into  one  common  con 
federacy  under  the  headship  of  the  last  mentioned, 
unanimously  located  their  earliest  ancestry  near  an 
artificial  eminence  in  the  valley  of  the  Big  Black 
Kiver,  in  the  Natchez  country,  whence  they  pretended 
to  have  emerged.  Fortunately  we  have  a  description, 
though  a  brief  one,  of  this  interesting  monument  from 
the  pen  of  an  intelligent  traveller.  It  is  described  as 
"an  elevation  of  earth  about  half  a  mile  square  and 
fifteen  or  twenty  feet  high.  From  its  northeast 
corner  a  wall  of  equal  height  extends  for  near  half  a 
mile  to  the  high  land."  This  was  the  Nunne  Chaha 
or  Nunne  Hamgeh,  the  High  Hill,  or  the  Bending 
Hill,  famous  in  Choctaw  stories,  and  which  Captain 
Gregg  found  they  have  not  yet  forgotten  in  their 
western  home.  The  legend  was  that  in  its  centre  was 

1  Marcy,  Exploration  of  the  Red  Ewer,  p.  69. 
15 


226  THE  ORIGIN  OF  MAN. 

a  cave,  the  house  of  the  Master  of  Breath.  Here  he 
made  the  first  men  from  the  clay  around  him,  and  as 
at  that  time  the  waters  covered  the  earth,  he  raised 
the  wall  to  dry  them  on.  When  the  soft  mud  had 
hardened  into  elastic  flesh  and  firm  bone,  he  banished 
the  waters  to  their  channels  and  beds,  and  gave  the 
dry  land  to  his  creatures.1  When  in  1826  Albert 
Gallatin  obtained  from  some  Natchez  chiefs  a  voca 
bulary  of  their  language,  they  gave  to  him  as  their 
word  for  hill  precisely  the  same  word  that  a  century 
and  a  quarter  before  the  French  had  found  among 
them  as  their  highest  term  for  God;2  reversing  the 
example  of  the  ancient  Greeks  who  came  in  time  to 
speak  of  Olympus,  at  first  the  proper  name  of  a  peak 
in  Thessaly,  as  synonymous  with  heaven  and  Jove. 
A  parallel  to  this  southern  legend  occurs  among 

1  Compare  Romans,  Hist,  of  Florida,  pp.  58,  71  ;  Adair,  Hist, 
of  tlie  North  Am.  Indians,  p.  195  ;  and  Gregg,  Commerce  of  the 
Prairies,  ii.  p.  235.     The  description  of  the  mound  is  by  Major 
Heart,  in  the  Trans,  of  the  Am.  Philos.  Soc.,  iii.  p.  216.     (1st 
series.) 

2  The  French  writers  give  for  Great  Spirit  coyocopcJiill ;  Galla 
tin  for  hill,  kweya  koopsel.     The  blending  of  these  two  ideas,  at 
first  sight  so  remote,  is  easily  enough  explained  when  we  re 
member  that  on  "  the  hill  of  heaven"  in  all  religions  is  placed  the 
throne  of  the  mightiest  of  existences.    The  Natchez  word  can  be 
analyzed  as  follows :  sel,  sil,  or  chill,  great ;  cop,  a  termination 
very  frequent  in  their  language,  apparently  signifying  existence ; 
kweya,  coyo,  for  kue  ya,  from  the   Maya  kue,  god;  the  great 
living  God.      The  Tarahumara  language  of  Sonora  offers  an 
almost  parallel  instance.     In  it  regui,  is  above,  up,  over,  reguiki, 
heaven,  reguiguiki,  a  hill  or  mountain  (Buschmann,  Spuren  der 
Aztek.  Sprache  im  nbrd.  Mexico,  p.  244).     In  the  Quiche  dialects. 
tepeu  is  lord,  ruler,  and  is  often  applied  to  the  Supreme  Being. 
With  some  probability  Brasseur  derives  it  from  the  Aztec  tepetl, 
mountain  (Hist,  du  Mexique,  i.  p.  106). 


THE  SEVEN  CAVERNS.  227 

the  Six  Nations  of  the  north.  They  with  one  con 
sent,  if  we  may  credit  the  account  of  Cusic,  looked  to 
a  mountain  near  the  falls  of  the  Oswego  Kiver  in 
the  State  of  N^vv  York,  as  the  locality  where  their 
forefathers  first  saw  the  light  of  day,  and  that  they 
had  some  such  legend  the  name  Oneida,  people  of  the 
Stone,  would  seem  to  testify. 

The  cave  of  Pacari  Tampu,  the  Lodgings  of  the 
Dawn,  was  fve  leagues  distant  from  Cuzco,  sur 
rounded  by  a  sacred  grove  and  inclosed  with  temples 
of  great  antiquity.  From  its  hallowed  recesses  the 
mythical  civilizers  of  Peru,  the  first  of  men,  emerged, 
and  in  it  during  the  time  of  the  flood,  the  remnants  of 
the  race  escaped  the  fury  of  the  waves.1  Yiracocha 
himself  is  said  to  have  dwelt  there,  though  it  hardly 
needed  this  evidence  to  render  it  certain  that  this  con 
secrated  cavern  is  but  a  localization  of  the  general 
myth  of  the  dawn  rising  from  the  deep.  It  refers  us 
for  its  prototype  to  the  Aymara  allegory  of  the  morn 
ing  light  flinging  its  beams  like  snow-white  foam  | 
athwart  the  waves  of  Lake  Titicaca. 

An  ancient  legend  of  the  Aztecs  derived  their 
nation  from  a  place  called  Chicomoztoc,  the  Seven 
Caverns,  located  north  of  Mexico.  Antiquaries  have 
indulged  in  all  sorts  of  speculations  as  to  what  this 
means.  Sahagun  explains  it  as  a  valley  so  named  ; 
Clavigero  supposes  it  to  have  been  a  city ;  Hamilton 
Smith,  and  after  him  Schoolcraft,  construed  caverns 
to  be  a  figure  of  speech  for  the  boats  in  which  the 
early  Americans  paddled  across  from  Asia  (!) ;  the 
Abbe  Brasseur  confounds  it  with  Aztlan,  and  very 

1  Balboa,  Hist,  du  Perou,  p.  4. 


228  THE  ORIGIN  OF  MAN. 

many  have  discovered  in  it  a  distinct  reference  to  the 
fabulous  "seven  cities  of  Cibola"  and  the  Casas 
Grandes,  ruins  of  large  buildings  of  unburnt  brick  in 
the  valley  of  the  Eiver  Gila.  From,  this  story  arose 
the  supposed  sevenfold  division  of  the  Nahuas,  a 
division  which  never  existed  except  in  the  imagina 
tion  of  Europeans.  ,  When  Torquemada  adds  that 
seven  hero  gods  mled  in  Chicomoztoc  and  were  the 
progenitors  of  all  its  inhabitants,  when  one  of  them 
turns  out  to  be  Xelhua,  the  giant  who  with  six  others 
escaped  the  flood  by  ascending  the  mountain  of  Tlaloc 
in  the  terrestrial  paradise  and  afterwards  built  the 
pyramid  of  Cholula,  and  when  we  remember  that  in 
one  of  the  flood-myths  seven  persons  were  said  to  have 
escaped  the  waters,  the  whole  narrative  acquires  a 
fabulous  aspect  that  shuts  it  out  from  history,  and 
brands  it  as  one  of  those  fictions  of  the  origin  of  man 
from  the  earth  so  common  to  the  race.  Fictions  yet 
truths ;  for  caverns  and  hollow  trees  were  in  fact  the 
houses  and  temples  of  our  first  parents,  and  from  them 
they  went  forth  to  conquer  and  adorn  the  world ;  and 
from  the  inorganic  constituents  of  the  soil  acted  on 
by  Light,  touched  by  Divine  Force,  vivified  by  the 
Spirit,  did  in  reality  the  first  of  men  proceed. 

This  cavern,  which  thus  dimly  lingered  in  the 
memories  of  nations,  occasionally  expanded  to  a 
nether  world,  imagined  to  underlie  this  of  ours,  and 
still  inhabited  by  beings  of  our  kind,  who  have  never 
been  lucky  enough  to  discover  its  exit.  The  Man- 
dans  and  Minnetarees  on  the  Missouri  Eiver  supposed 
this  exit  was  near  a  certain  hill  in  their  territory, 
and  as  it  had  been,  as  it  were,  the  womb  of  the 
earth,  the  same  power  was  attributed  to  it  that  in 


THE  MYTH  OF  THE  UNDER-  WORLD.      229 

ancient  times  endowed  certain  shrines  with  such 
charms ;  and  thither  the  barren  wives  of  their  nation 
made  frequent  pilgrimages  when  they  would  become 
mothers.1  The  Mandans  added  the  somewhat  puerile 
fable  that  the  means  of  ascent  had  been  a  grapevine, 
by  which  many  ascended  and  descended,  until  one 
day  an  immoderately  fat  old  lady,  anxious  to  get  a 
look  at  the  upper  earth,  broke  it  with  her  weight, 
and  prevented  any  further  communication. 

Such  tales  of  an  under-world  are  very  frequent 
among  the  Indians,  and  are  a  very  natural  outgrowth 
of  the  literal  belief  that  the  race  is  earth-born. 

Man  is  indeed  like  the  grass  that  springs  up  and 
soon  withers  away;  but  he  is  also  more  than  this. 
The  quintessence  of  dust,  he  is  a  son  of  the  gods  as 
well  as  a  son  of  the  soil.  He  is  the  direct  product  of 
the  great  creative  power;  therefore  all  the  Atha 
pascan  tribes  west  of  the  Eocky  Mountains— the 
Kenai,  the  Kolushes,  and  the  Atnai — claim  descent 
from  a  raven — from  that  same  mighty  cloud-bird, 
who  in  the  beginning  of  things  seized  the  elements 
and  brought  the  world  from  the  abyss  of  the  primi 
tive  ocean.  Those  of  the  same  stock  situate  more 
eastwardly,  the  Dogribs,  the  Chepewyans,  the  Hare 
Indians,  and  also  the  west  coast  Eskimos,  and  the 
natives  of  the  Aleutian  Isles,  all  believe  that  they 
have  sprung  from  a  dog.2  The  latter  animal,  we  have 
already  seen,  both  in  the  old  and  new  world  was  the 
fixed  symbol  of  the  water  goddess.  Therefore  in 

1  Long's  Expedition  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  i.  p.  274;  Cat- 
lin's  Letters,  i.  p.  178. 

2  Richardson,  Arctic  Expedition,  pp.  239,  247;  Klemm,  Cul- 
turgeschichte  der  Menschlieit,  ii.  p.  316. 


230  THE  ORIGIN  OF  MAN. 

these  myths,  which  are  found  over  so  many  thousand 
square  leagues,  we  cannot  be  in  error  in  perceiving  a 
reflex  of  their  cosmogonical  traditions  already  dis 
cussed,  in  which  from  the  winds  and  the  waters, 
represented  here  under  their  emblems  of  the  bird 
and  the  dog,  all  animate  life  proceeded. 

"Without  this  symbolic  coloring,  a  tribe  to  the  south 
of  them,  a  band  of  the  Minnetarees,  had  the  crude 
tradition  that  their  first  progenitor  emerged  from  the 
waters,  bearing  in  his  hand  an  ear  of  maize,1  very 
much  as  Yiracocha  and  his  companions  rose  from  the 
sacred  waves  of  Lake  Titicaca,  or  as  the  Moxos 
imagined  that  they  were  descended  from  the  lakes 
and  rivers  on  whose  banks  their  villages  were 
situated. 

These  myths,  and  many  others,  hint  of  general 
conceptions  of  life  and  the  world,  wide-spread  theo 
ries  of  ancient  date,  such  as  we  are  not  accustomed 
to  expect  among  savage  nations,  such  as  may  very 
excusably  excite  a  doubt  as  to  their  native  origin, 
but  a  doubt  infallibly  dispelled  by  a  careful  compari 
son  of  the  best  authorities.  Is  it  that  hitherto,  in 
the  pride  of  intellectual  culture,  we  have  never  done 
justice  to  the  thinking  faculty  of  those  whom  we  call 
barbarians  ?  Or  shall  we  accept  the  only  other  alter 
native,  that  these  are  the  unappreciated  heirlooms 
bequeathed  a  rude  race  by  a  period  of  higher  civiliza 
tion,  long  since  extinguished  by  constant  wars  and 
ceaseless  fear?  We  are  not  yet  ready  to  answer 
these  questions.  With  almost  unanimous  consent 
the  latter  has  been  accepted  as  the  true  solution,  but 
rather  from  the  preconceived  theory  of  a  state  of 

1  Long,  Exped,  to  the  Eocky  Mountains,  i.  p.  326. 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  THE  WOLF.  231 

primitive  civilization  from  which  man  fell,  than  from 
ascertained  facts. 

It  would,  perhaps,  be  pushing  symbolism  too  far 
to  explain  as  an  emblem  of  the  primitive  waters  the 
coyote,  which,  according  to  the  Eoot-Diggers  of  Cali 
fornia,  brought  their  ancestors  into  the  world;  or  the 
wolf,  which  the  Lenni  Lenape  pretended  released 
mankind  from  the  dark  bowels  of  the  earth  by 
scratching  away  the  soil.  They  should  rather  be 
interpreted  by  the  curious  custom  of  the  Toukaways, 
a  wild  people  in  Texas,  of  predatory  and  unruly  dis 
position.  They  celebrate  their  origin  by  a  grand 
annual  dance.  One  of  them,  naked  as  he  was  born, 
is  buried  in  the  earth.  The  others,  clothed,  in  wolf 
skins,  walk  over  him,  snuff  around  him,  howl  in 
lupine  style,  and  finally  dig  him  up  with  their  nails. 
The  leading  wolf  then  solemnly  places  a  bow  and 
arrow  in  his  hands,  and  to  his  inquiry  as  to  what  he 
must  do  for  a  living,  paternally  advises  him  "  to  do 
as  the  wolves  do — rob,  kill,  and  murder,  rove  from 
place  to  place,  and  never  cultivate  the  soil."1  Most 
wise  and  fatherly  counsel !  But  what  is  there  new 
under  the  sun  ?  Three  thousand  years  ago  the  Hir- 
pini,  or  Wolves,  an  ancient  Sabine  tribe,  were  wont 
to  collect  on  Mount  Soracte,  and  there  go  through 
certain  rites  in  memory  of  an  oracle  which  predicted 
their  extinction  when  they  ceased  to  gain  their  living 
as  wolves  by  violence  and  plunder.  Therefore  they 
dressed  in  wolf-skins,  ran  with  barks  and  howls  over 
burning  coals,  and  gnawed  wolnshly  whatever  they 
could  seize.2 

1  Schoolcraft,  Ind.  Tribes,  v.  p.  683. 

2  Schwarz,  Ursprung  der  Nytliologie,  p.  121. 


232  777^  ORIGIN  OF  MAN. 

Though  hasty  writers  have  often  said  that  the 
Indian  tribes  claim  literal  descent  from  different  wild 
beasts,  probably  in  all  other  instances,  as  in  these, 
this  will  prove,  on  examination,  to  be  an  error  rest 
ing  on  a  misapprehension  arising  from  the  habit  of 
the  natives  of  adopting  as  their  totem  or  clan-mark 
the  figure  and  name  of  some  animal,  or  else,  in  an 
ignorance  of  the  animate  symbols  employed  with 
such  marked  preference  by  the  red  race  to  express 
abstract  ideas.  In  some  cases,  doubtless,  the  natives 
themselves  came,  in  time,  to  confound  the  symbol 
with  the  idea,  by  that  familiar  process  of  personifica 
tion  and  consequent  debasement  exemplified  in  the 
history  of  every  religion ;  but  I  do  not  believe  that 
a  single^  example  could  l>e  found  where  an  Indian 
tribe  had  a  tradition_whose_real  purport  was  that 
man  came  by  natural  process  of  descent  from_an 
ancestor?  a  brute.  _ 

The  reflecting  mind  will  not  be  offended  at  the 
contradictions  in  these  different  myths,  for  a  myth  is, 
in  one  sense,  a  theory  of  natural  phenomena  ex 
pressed  in  the  form  of  a  narrative.  Often  several 
explanations  seem  equally  satisfactory  for  the  same 
fact,  and  the  mind  hesitates  to  choose,  and  rather 
accepts  them  all  than  rejects  any.  Then,  again,  an 
expression  current  as  a  metaphor  by-and-by  crystal 
lizes  into  a  dogma,  and  becomes  the  nucleus  of  a  new 
mythological  growth.  These  are  familiar  processes 
to  one  versed  in  such  studies,  and  involve  no  logical 
contradiction,  because  they  are  never  required  to  be 
reconciled. 


CHAPTEK    IX. 

THE  SOUL  AND  ITS  DESTINY. 

Universality  of  the  belief  in  a  soul  and  a  future  state  shown  by  the  abo 
riginal  tongues,  by  expressed  opinions,  and  by  sepulchral  rites.  — 
The  future  world  never  a  place  of  rewards  and  punishments.  —  The 
house  of  the  Sun  the  heaven  of  the  red  man.  —  The  terrestrial  paradise 
and  the  under-world.  —  (JJupay.  —  Xibalba.  —  Mictlan.  —  Metempsychosis  ? 
—  Belief  in  a  resurrection  of  the  dead  almost  universal. 


missionary  Charlevoix  wrote  several  excellent 
works  on  America  toward  the  beginning  of  the 
last  century,  and  he  is  often  quoted  by  later  authors  ; 
but  probably  no  one  of  his  sayings  has  been  thus 
honored  more  frequently  than  this:  "The  belief  the 
best  established  among  our  Americans  is  that  of  the 
immortality  of  the  soul."1  The  tremendous  stake 
that  every  one  of  us  has  on  the  truth  of  this  dogma 
makes  it  quite  a  satisfaction  to  be  persuaded  that  no 
man  is  willing  to  live  wholly  without  it.  Certainly 
exceptions  are  very  rare,  and  most  of  those  which 
materialistic  philosophers  have  taken  such  pains  to 
collect,  rest  on  misunderstandings  or  superficial 
observation. 

In  the  new  world  I  know  of  only  one  well  au 
thenticated  instance  where  all  notion  of  a  future  state 
appears  to  have  been  entirely  wanting,  and  this  in 
quite  a  small  clan,  the  Lower  Pend  d'Oreilles,  of 

1  Journal  Historique,  p.  351  :  Paris,  1740. 


234  THE  SOUL  AND  ITS  DESTINY. 

Oregon.  This  people  had  no  burial  ceremonies,  no 
notion  of  a  life  hereafter,  no  word  for  soul,  spiritual 
existence,  or  vital  principle.  They  thought  that 
when  they  died,  that  was  the  last  of  them.  The 
Catholic  missionaries  who  undertook  the  unpromising 
task  of  converting  them  to  Christianity,  were  at  first 
obliged  to  depend  upon  the  imperfect  translations  of 
half-breed  interpreters.  These  "made  the  idea  of 
soul  intelligible  to  their  hearers  by  telling  them  they 
had  a  gut  which  never  rotted,  and  that  this  was  their 
living  principle  !"  Yet  even  they  were  not  destitute 
of  religious  notions.  No  tribe  was  more  addicted  to 
the  observance  of  charms,  omens,  dreams,  and 
guardian  spirits,  and  they  believed  that  illness  and 
bad  luck  generally  were  the  effects  of  the  anger  of  a 
fabulous  old  woman.1  The  aborigines  of  the  Cali- 
fornian  peninsula  wrere  as  near  beasts  as  men  ever 
become.  The  missionaries  likened  them  to  "herds 
of  swine,  who  neither  worshipped  the  true  and  only 
God,  nor  adored  false  deities."  Yet  they  must  have 
had  some  vague  notion  of  an  after.world,  for  the 
writer  who  paints  the  darkest  picture  of  their  condi 
tion  remarks,  "  I  saw  them  frequently  putting  shoes 
on  the  feet  of  the  dead,  which  seems  to  indicate  that 
they  entertain  the  idea  of  a  journey  after  death."2 

Proof  of  Charlevoix's   opinion   may   be   derived 
from  three  independent  sources.     The  aboriginal  Ian- 

1  Rep.  of  the  Commissioner  of  Ind.   Affairs,  1854,  pp.  211, 
212.     The  old  woman  is  once  more  a  personification  of  the  water 
and  the  rnoon. 

2  Bcegert,  Ace.  of  the  Aborig.  Tribes  of  the  Calif ornian  Penin 
sula,  translated  by  Chas.  Ran,  in  Ann.  Rep.  Smithson.  Inst., 
1866,  p.  387. 


THE  SOUL  AND  THE  SHADOW.  235 

guages  may  be  examined  for  terms  corresponding  to 
the  word  soul,  the  opinions  of  the  Indians  them 
selves  may  be  quoted,  and  the  significance  of  sepul 
chral  rites  as  indicative  of  a  belief  in  life  after  death, 
may  be  determined. 

The  most  satisfactory  is  the  first  of  these.  We  call 
the  soul  a  ghost  or  spirit,  and  often  a  shade.  In 
these  words,  the  breath  and  the  shadow  are  the  sensu 
ous  perceptions  transferred  to  represent  the  imma 
terial  object  of  our  thought.  Why  the  former  was 
chosen,  I  have  already  explained ;  and  for  the  latter, 
that  it  is  man's  intangible  image,  his  constant  com 
panion,  and  is  of  a  nature  akin  to  darkness,  earth, 
and  night,  are  sufficiently  obvious  reasons. 

These  same  tropes  recur  in  American  languages  in 
the  same  connection.  The  New  England  tribes  called 
the  soul  chemung,  the  shadow,  and  in  Quiche  natub, 
in  Eskimo  tarnak,  express  both  these  ideas.  In 
Mohawk  atonritz,  the  soul,  is  from  atonrion,  to  breathe, 
and  other  examples  to  the  same  purpose  have 
already  been  given.1 

Of  course  no  one  need  demand  that  a  strict  imma 
teriality  be  attached  to  these  words..  Such  a  color 
less  negative  abstraction  never  existed  for  them, 
neither  does  it  for  us,  though  we  delude  ourselves 

1  Of  the  Nicaraguans  Oviedo  says  :  "  Ce  n'est  pas  leur  cceur 
qui  va  en  haut,  mais  ce  qui  les  faisait  vivre ;  c'est-a-dire,  le  souffle 
qui  leur  sort  par  la  bouche,  et  que  Ton  nomine  Julio"  (Hist,  du 
Nicaragua,  p.  36).  The  word  should  be  yulia,  kindred  with  yoli, 
to  live.  (Buschmann,  Uber  die  Aztekischen  Ortsnamen,  p.  765.) 
In  the  Aztec  and  cognate  languages  wre  have  already  seen  that 
ehecatl  means  both  wind,  soul,  and  shadow  (Buschmann,  Spuren 
der  Aztek.  Spr.  in  Nordlichen  Mexico,  p.  74). 


236  THE  SOUL  AND  ITS  DESTINY. 

into  believing  that  it  does.  The  soul  was  to  them 
the  invisible  man,  material  as  ever,  but  lost  to  the 
appreciation  of  the  senses. 

Nor  let  any  one  be  astonished  if  its  unity  was 
doubted,  and  several  supposed  to  reside  in  one  body. 
This  is  nothing  more  than  a  somewhat  gross  form  of 
a  doctrine  upheld  by  most  creeds  and  most  philoso 
phies.  It  seems  the  readiest  solution  of  certain 
psychological  enigmas,  and  may,  for  aught  we  know, 
be  an  instinct  of  fact.  The  Kabbis  taught  a  threefold 
division — nephesh,  the  animal,  ruali,  the  human,  and 
neshamah,  the  divine  soul,  which  corresponds  to  that 
of  Plato  into  thumos,  epithumia,  and  nous.  And  even 
Saint  Paul  seems  to  have  recognized  such  inherent 
plurality  when  he  distinguishes  between  the  bodily 
soul,  the  intellectual  soul,  and  the  spiritual  gift,  in 
his  Epistle  to  the  Eomaiis.  No  such  refinements  of 
course  as  these  are  to  be  expected  among  the  red 
men ;  but  it  may  be  looked  upon  either  as  the  rudi 
ments  of  these  teachings,  or  as  a  gradual  debasement 
of  them  to  gross  and  material  expression,  that  an  old 
and  wide-spread  notion  was  found  among  both  Iro- 
quois  and  Algonkins,  that  man  has  two  souls,  one  of 
a  vegetative  character,  which  gives  bodily  life,  and 
remains  with  the  corpse  after  death,  until  it  is 
called  to  enter  another  body;  another  of  more  ethe 
real  texture,  which  in  life  can  depart  from  the  body 
in  sleep  or  trance,  and  wander  over  the  world,  and  at 
death  goes  directly  to  the  land  of  Spirits.1 

The  Sioux  extended  it  to  Plato's  number,  and  are 

1  Eel.  de  la  Nouv.  France,  An  1636,  p.  104;  "Keating's  Nar 
rative,"  i.  pp.  232,  410. 


THE  PL  URALITY  OF  SO ULS.  237 

said  to  have  looked  forward  to  one  going  to  a  cold 
place,  another  to  a  warm  and  comfortable  country, 
while  the  third  was  to  watch  the  body.  Certainly  a 
most  impartial  distribution  of  rewards  and  punish 
ments.1  Some  other  Dakota  tribes  shared  their  views 
on  this  point,  but  more  commonly,  doubtless  owing 
to  the  sacredness  of  the  number,  imagined  four  souls, 
with  separate  destinies,  one  to  wander  about  the 
world,  one  to  watch  the  body,  the  third  to  hover 
around  the  village,  and  the  highest  to  go  to  the  spirit 
land.2  Even  this  number  is  multiplied  by  certain 
Oregon  tribes,  who  imagine  one  in  every  member ; 
and  by  the  Caribs  of  Martinique,  who,  wherever 
they  could  detect  a  pulsation,  located  a  spirit,  all 
subordinate,  however,  to  a  supreme  one  throned  in 
the  heart,  which  alone  would  be  transported  to  the 
skies  at  death.3  For  the  heart  that  so  constantly 
sympathizes  with  our  emotions  and  actions,  is,  in 
most  languages  and  most  nations,  regarded  as  the 
seat  of  life ;  and  when  the  priests  of  bloody  religions 
tore  out  the  heart  of  the  victim  and  offered  it  to  the 
idol,  it  was  an  emblem  of  the  life  that  was  thus  torn 
from  the  field  of  this  world  and  consecrated  to  the 
rulers  of  the  next. 

Yarious  motives  impel  the  living  to  treaf  with  re 
spect  the  body  from  which  life  has  departed.  Lowest 
of  them  is  a  superstitious  dread  of  death  and  the 
dead.  The  stoicism  of  the  Indian,  especially  the 
northern  tribes,  in  the  face  of  death,  has  often  been 
the  topic  of  poets,  and  has  often  been  interpreted  to 

1  French,  Hist.  Colls,  of  Louisiana,  iii.  p.  26. 

2  Mrs.  Eastman,  Legends  of  the  Sioux,  p.  129. 

3  Voy.  a  la  Louisiane  fait  en  1720,  p.  155:  Paris,  1768. 


238  THE  SOUL  AND  ITS  DESTINY. 

be  a  fearlessness  of  that  event.  This  is  by  no  means 
true.  Savages  have  an  awful  horror  of  death ;  it  is 
to  them  the  worst  of  ills;  and  for  this  very  reason 
was  it  that  they  thought  to  meet  it  without  flinching 
was  the  highest  proof  of  courage.  Everything  con 
nected  with  the  deceased  was,  in  many  tribes,  shunned 
with  superstitious  terror.  His  name  was  not  men 
tioned,  his  property  left  untouched,  all  reference  to 
him  was  sedulously  avoided.  A  Tupi  tribe  used  to 
hurry  the  body  at  once  to  the  nearest  water,  and  toss 
it  in ;  the  Akanzas  left  it  in  the  lodge  and  burned 
over  it  the  dwelling  and  contents;  and  the  Algonkins 
carried  it  forth  by  a  hole  cut  opposite  the  door,  and 
beat  the  walls  with  sticks  to  fright  away  the  linger 
ing  ghost.  Burying  places  were  always  avoided,  and 
every  means  taken  to  prevent  the  departed  spirits 
exercising  a  malicious  influence  on  those  remaining 
behind. 

These  craven  fears  do  but  reveal  the  natural  re 
pugnance  of  the  animal  to  a  cessation  of  existence, 
and  arise  from  the  instinct  of  self-preservation  essen 
tial  to  organic  life.  Other  rites,  undertaken  avowedly 
for  the  behoof  of  the  soul,  prove  and  illustrate  a 
simple  but  unshaken  faith  in  its  continued  existence 
after  the'decay  of  the  body. 

None  of  these  is  more  common  or  more  natural 
than  that  which  attributes  to  the  emancipated  spirit 
the  same  wants  that  it  felt  while  on  earth,  and 
with  loving  foresight  provides  for  their  satisfaction. 
Clothing  and  utensils  of  war  and  the  chase  were,  in 
ancient  times,  uniformly  placed  by  the  body,  under 
the  impression  that  they  would  be  of  service  to  the 
departed  in  his  new  home.  Some  few  tribes  in  the 


THE  RITES  AT  THE  TOMB. 


239 


far  west  still  retain  the  custom,  but  most  were  soon 
ridiculed  into  its  neglect,  or  were  forced  to  omit  it 
by  the  violation   of  tombs   practised   by    depraved 
whites  in  hope  of  gain.     To  these  harmless  offerings 
the  northern  tribes  often  added  a  dog  slain  on  the 
grave ;  and  doubtless  the  skeletons  of  these  animals 
in  so  many  tombs  in  Mexico  and  Peru  point  to  simi 
lar  customs  there.     It  had  no  deeper  meaning  than 
to  give  a  companion  to  the  spirit  in  its  long  and  lone 
some  journey  to  the  far  off  land  of  shades.     The  pe 
culiar  appropriateness  of  the  dog  arose  not  only  from 
the  guardianship  it  exerts  during  life,  but  further 
from  the  symbolic  signification  it  so  often  had  as 
representative  of  the  goddess  of  night  and  the  grave. 
Where  a  despotic  form  of  government  reduced  the 
subject  almost  to  the  level  of  a  slave  and  elevated 
the  ruler  almost   to '  that  of  a   superior   being,  not 
animals  only,  but  men,  women,  and  children  were 
frequently  immolated   at   the  tomb  of  the  cacique. 
The  territory  embraced  in  our  own  country  was  not 
without   examples  of  this    horrid   custom.     On  the 
lower  Mississippi,  the   Natchez   Indians   brought  it 
with  them  from  Central  America  in  all  its  ghastliness. 
When  a  sun  or  chief  died,  one  or  several  of  his  wives 
and  his  highest  officers  were  knocked  on  the  head  and 
buried  with  him,  and  at  such  times  the  barbarous 
privilege  was  allowed  to  any  of  the  lowest  caste  to  at 
once  gain  admittance  to  the  highest  by  the  deliberate 
murder  of  their  own  children  on  the  funeral  pyre — 
a  privilege  which  respectable  writers  tell  us  human 
beings  were  found  base  enough  to  take  advantage  of.1 

1  Dupratz,  Hist,  of  Louisiana,  ii.  p.  219 ;  Dumont,  Hems. 
Hist,  sur  la  Louisiane,  i.  chap.  26. 


240  THE  SOUL  AND  ITS  DESTINY. 

Oviedo  relates  that  in  the  province  of  Guataro,  in 
Guatemala,  an  actual  rivalry  prevailed  among  the 
people  to  be  slain  at  the  death  of  their  cacique,  for 
they  had  been  taught  that  only  such  as  went  with 
him  would  ever  find  their  way  to  the  paradise  of  the 
departed.1  Theirs  was  therefore  somewhat  of  a  selfish 
motive,  and  only  in  certain  parts  of  Peru,  where  poly 
gamy  prevailed,  and  the  rule  was  that  only  one  wife 
was  to  be  sacrificed,  does  the  deportment  of  husbands 
seem  to  have  been  so  creditable  that  their  widows 
actually  disputed  one  with  another  for  the  pleasure 
of  being  buried  alive  with  the  dead  body,  and  bear 
ing  their  spouse  company  to  the  other  world.2  Wives 
who  have  found  few  parallels  since  the  famous  matron 
of  Ephesus ! 

The  fire  built  nightly  on  the  grave  was  to  light  the 
spirit  on  his  journey.  By  a  coincidence  to  be  ex 
plained  by  the  universal  sacredness  of  the  number, 
both  Algonkins  and  Mexicans  maintained  it  for  four 
nights  consecutively.  The  former  related  the  tradi 
tion  that  one  of  their  ancestors  returned  from  the 
spirit  land  and  informed  their  nation  that  the  journey 
thither  consumed  just  four  days,  and  that  collecting 
fuel  every  night  added  much  to  the  toil  and  fatigue 
the  soul  encountered,  all  of  which  could  be  spared  it 
by  the  relatives  kindling  nightly  a  fire  on  the  grave. 
Or  as  Longfellow  has  told  it : — 

"Four  days  is  the  spirit's  journey 
To  the  land  of  ghosts  and  shadows, 
Four  its  lonely  night  encampments. 


1  Eel  de  la  Prov.  de  Cueba,  p.  140. 

2  Coreal,  Voiagesaux  Indes  Occidentales^u.p.^:  Amsterdam, 


1722 


THE  SOUL  UPON  ITS  JOURNEY.  241 

Therefore  when  the  dead  are  buried, 
Let  a  fire  as  night  approaches 
Four  times  on  the  grave  be  kindled, 
That  the  soul  upon  its  journey 
May  not  grope  about  in  darkness." 

The  same  length  of  time,  say  the  ISTavajos,  does  the 
departed  soul  wander  over  a  gloomy  marsh  ere  it  can 
discover  the  ladder  leading  to  the  world  below,  where 
are  the  homes  of  the  setting  and  the  rising  sun,  a' 
land  of  luxuriant  plenty,  stocked  with  game  and 
covered  with  corn.  To  that  land,  say  they,  sink  all 
lost  seeds  and  germs  which  fall  on  the  earth  and  do 
not  sprout.  There  below  they  take  root,  bud,  and 
ripen  their  fruit.1 

After  four  days,  once  more,  in  the  superstitions  of 
the  Greenland  Eskimos,  does  the  soul,  for  that  term 
after  death  confined  in  the  body,  at  last  break  from 
its  prison-house  and  either  rise  in  the  sky  to  dance 
in  the  aurora  borealis  or  descend  into  the  pleasant 
land  beneath  the  earth,  according  to  the  manner  of 
death.2 

That  there  are  logical  contradictions  in  this  belief 
and  these  ceremonies,  that  the  fire  is  always  in  the 
same  spot,  that  the  weapons  and  utensils  are  not 
carried  away  by  the  departed,  and  that  the  food  placed 
for  his  sustenance  remains  untouched,  is  very  true. 
But  those  who  would  therefore  argue  that  they  were 
not  intended  for  the  benefit  of  the  soul,  and  seek 
some  more  recondite  meaning  in  them  as  "uncon 
scious  emblems  of  struggling  faith  or  expressions  of 


Rep.  on  the  Ind.  Tribes,  p.  358:  Wash.  1867. 
2  Egede,  Nacliricliten  von  Gronland,  p.  145. 
16 


212  THE  SOUL  AND  ITS  DESTINY. 

inward  emotions,"1  are  led  astray  by  the  very  sim 
plicity  of  their  real  intention.  Where  is  the  faith, 
where  the  science,  that  does  not  involve  logical  con 
tradictions  just  as  gross  as  these  ?  They  are  tolerable 
to  us  merely  because  we  are  used  to  them.  What 
value  has  the  evidence  of  the  senses  anywhere  against 
a  religious  faith  ?  None  whatever.  A  stumbling 
block  though  this  be  to  the  materialist,  it  is  the 
universal  truth,  and  as  such  it  is  well  to  accept  it  as 
an  experimental  fact. 

The  preconceived  opinions  that  saw  in  the  meteor 
ological  myths  of  the  Indian  a  conflict  between  the 
Spirit  of  Good  and  the  Spirit  of  Evil,  have  with  like 
unconscious  error  falsified  his  doctrine  of  a  future 
life,  and  almost  without  an  exception  drawn  it  more 
or  less  in  the  likeness  of  the  Christian  heaven,  hell, 
and  purgatory.  Yery  faint  traces  of  any  such  belief 
except  where  derived  from  the  missionaries  are  visible 
in  the  New  World.  Nowhere  was  any  well-defined 
doctrine  that  moral  turpitude  was  judged  and  punished 
in  the  next  world.  No  contrast  is  discoverable  be 
tween  a  place  of  torments  and  a  realm  of  joy;  at  the 
worst  but  a  negative  castigation  awaited  the  liar,  the 
coward,  or  the  niggard.  The  typical  belief  of  the 
tribes  of  the  United  States  was  well  expressed  in  the 
reply  of  Esau  Hajo,  great  medal  chief  and  speaker 
for  the  Creek  nation  in  the  National  Council,  to  the 
question,  Do  the  red  people  believe  in  a  future  state 
of  rewards  and  punishments  ?  "  We  have  an  opinion 
that  those  who  have  behaved  well  are  taken  under 
the  care  of  Esaugetuh  Emissee,  and  assisted ;  and  that 

1  Alger,  Hist,  of  the  Doctrine  of  a  Future  Life,  p.  76. 


THE  HE  A  YEN  OF  THE  RED  MAN.  2i3 

those  who  have  behaved  ill  are  left  to  shift  for  them 
selves;  and  that  there  is  no  other  punishment.'" 

Neither  the  delights  of  a  heaven  on  the  one  hand, 
nor  the  terrors  of  a  hell  on  the  other,  were  ever  held 
out  by  priests  or  sages  as  an  incentive  to  well-doing, 
or  a  warning   to  the  evil-disposed.     Different  fates,  \ 
indeed,  awaited  the  departed  souls,  but  these  rarely,  / 
if  ever,  were  decided  by  their  conduct  while  in  the  / 
flesh,  but  by  the  manner  of  death,  the  punctuality  \ 
with  which  certain  sepulchral  rites  were  fulfilled  by  / 
relatives,    or    other   similar   arbitrary   circumstance) 
beyond  the  power  of  the  individual  to  control.     Thisl 
view,  which  I  am  well  aware  is  directly  at  variance  \ 
with  that  of  all  previous  writers,  may  be  show-n  to  be    \ 
that  natural  to  the  uncultivated  intellect  everywhere,     \ 
and  tne^e^Tinterpretation  of  the  cTe^s^oT^mefica. 
Whether  these  arbitrary  circumstances  were  not  con-       / 
strued  to  signify  the  decision  of  the  Divine  Mind  on      A 
the  life  of  the  man,  is  a  deeper  question,  which  there 
is  no  means  at  hand  to  solve. 

Those  who  have  complained  of  the  hopeless  confu 
sion  of  American  religions  have  but  proven  the 
insufficiency  of  their  own  means  of  analyzing  them. 
The  uniformity  which  they  display  in  so  many  points 
is  nowhere  more  fully  illustrated  than  in  the  unanimi 
ty  with  which  they  all  point  to  the  sun  as  the  land  of 
the  happy  souls,  the  realm  of  the  blessed,  the  scene 
of  the  joyous  hunting-grounds  of  the  hereafter.  Its 
perennial  glory,  its  comfortable  warmth,  its  daily 
analogy  to  the  life  of  man,  marked  its  abode  as  the 
pleasantest  spot  in  the  universe.  It  matters  not  whe- 

1  Hawkins,  Sketch  of  the  Creek  Country,  p.  80. 


244  THE  SOUL  AXD  ITS  DESTINY. 

ther  the  eastern  Algonkins  pointed  to  the  south, 
others  of  their  nation,  with  the  Iroquois  and  Creeks, 
to  the  west,  or  many  tribes  to  the  east,  as  the  direc 
tion  taken  by  the  spirit ;  all  these  myths  but  mean 
that  its  bourn  is  the  home  of  the  sun,  which  is  per 
haps  in  the  Orient  whence  he  comes  forth,  in  the  Oc 
cident  where  he  makes  his  bed,  or  in  the  South 
whither  he  retires  in  the  chilling  winter.  Where  the 
sun  lives,  they  informed  the  earliest  foreign  visitors, 
were  the  villages  of  the  deceased,  and  the  milky  way 
which  nightly  spans  the  arch  of  heaven,  was,  in  their 
opinion,  the  road  that  led  thither,  and  was  called  the 
path  of  the  souls  (le  chemin  des  ames).1  To  hueyu  ku, 
the  mansion  of  the  sun,  said  the  Caribs,  the  soul 
passes  when  death  overtakes  the  body.2  Our  know 
ledge  is  scanty  of  the  doctrines  taught  by  the  Incas 
concerning  the  soul,  but  this  much  we  do  know, 
that  they  looked  to  the  sun,  their  recognized  lord 
and  protector,  as  he  who  would  care  for  them  at 
death,  and  admit  them  to  his  palaces.  There — not, 
indeed,  exquisite  joys — but  a  life  of  unruffled  pla 
cidity,  void  of  labor,  vacant  of  strong  emotions,  a 
sort  of  material  Nirvana,  awaited  them.3  For  these 
reasons,  they,  with  most  other  American  nations, 
interred  the  corpse  lying  east  and  west,  and  not  as 
the  traveller  Meyen  has  suggested/  from  the  rerninisr 
cences  of  some  ancient  migration.  Beyond  the  Cor 
dilleras,  quite  to  the  coast  of  Brazil,  the  innumerable 
hordes  who  wandered  through  the  sombre  tropical 

1  Rel.  de  la  Nouv.  France,  1634,  pp.  17,  18. 

2  Miiller,  Amer.  Urreligionen,  p.  229. 

3  La  Vega,  Hint,  des  Incas.,  lib.  ii.  cap.  7. 
*    Ueber  die  Ureinwohner  von  Peru,  p.  41. 


THE  FATE  OF  THE  SOUL.  245 

forests  of  that  immense  territory,  also  pointed  to  the 
west,  to  the  region  beyond  the  mountains,  as  the 
land  where  the  souls  of  their  ancestors  lived  in  un 
disturbed  serenity ;  or,  in  the  more  brilliant  imagina 
tions  of  the  later  generations,  in  a  state  of  perennial 
inebriety,  surrounded  by  infinite  casks  of  rum,  and 
with  no  white  man  to  dole  it  out  to  them.1  The 
natives  of  the  extreme  south,  of  the  Pampas  and 
Patagonia,  suppose  the  stars  are  the  souls  of  the  de 
parted.  At  night  they  wander  about  the  sky,  but 
the  moment  the  sun  rises  they  hasten  to  the  cheerful 
light,  and  are  seen  no  more  until  it  disappears  in  the 
west.  So  the  Eskimo  of  the  distant  north,  in  the 
long  winter  nights  when  the  aurora  bridges  the  sky 
with  its  changing  hues  and  arrowy  shafts  of  light, 
believes  he  sees  the  spirits  of  his  ancestors  clothed  in 
celestial  raiment,  disporting  themselves  in  the  absence 
of  the  sun,  and  calls  the  phenomenon  the  dance  of  the 
dead. 

The  home  of  the  sun  was  the  heaven  of  the  red 
man  ;  but  to  this  joyous  abode  not  every  one  without 
distinction,  no  miscellaneous  crowd,  could  gain  ad 
mittance.  The  conditions  were  as  various  as  the 
national  temperaments.  As  the  fierce  gods  of  the 
Northmen  would  admit  no  soul  to  the  banquets  of 
Walhalla  but  such  as  had  met  the  "  spear-death"  in  the 
bloody  play  of  war,  and  shut  out  pitilessly  all  those 
who  feebly  breathed  their  last  in  the  "straw  death" 
on  the  couch  of  sickness,  so  the  warlike  Aztec  race 
in  Nicaragua  held  that  the  shades  of  those  who  died 

1  Coreal,  Voy.  aux  Indes  Occident.,  i.  p.  224;  Miiller,  Amer. 
Urrelig.,  p.  289. 


246  THE  SOUL  AND  ITS  DESTINY. 

in  their  beds  went  downward  and  to  naught ;  but  of 
those  who  fell  in  battle  for  their  country  to  the  east, 
"  to  the  place  whence  cornes  the  sun."1  In  ancient 
Mexico  not  only  the  warriors  who  were  thus  sacri 
ficed  on  the  altar  of  their  country,  but  with  a  delicate 
and  poetical  sense  of  justice  that  speaks  well  for  the 
refinement  of  the  race,  also  those  women  who  perished 
in  child-birth,  were  admitted  to  the  home  of  the  sun. 
For  are  not  they  also  heroines  in  the  battle  of  life? 
Are  they  not  also  its  victims?  And  do  they  not  lay 
down  their  lives  for  country  and  kindred  ?  Every 
morning,  it  was  imagined,  the  heroes  came  forth  in 
battle  array,  and  with  shout  and  song  and  the  ring  of 
weapons,  accompanied  the  sun  to  the  zenith,  where 
at  every  noon  the  souls  of  the  mothers,  the  Cihuapi- 
pilti,  received  him  with  dances,  music,  and  flowers, 
and  bore  him  company  to  his  western  couch.2  Ex 
cept  these,  none — without,  it  may  be,  the  victims 
sacrificed  to  the  gods,  and  this  is  doubtful — were 
deemed  worthy  of  the  highest  heaven. 

A  mild  and  unwarlike  tribe  of  Guatemala,  on  the 
other  hand,  were  persuaded  that  to  die  by  any  other 
than  a  natural  death  was  to  forfeit  all  hope  of  life 
hereafter,  and  therefore  left  the  bodies  of  the  slain  to 
the  beasts  and  vultures. 

The  Mexicans  had  another  place  of  happiness  for 
departed  souls,  not  promising  perpetual  life  as  the 
home  of  the  sun,  but  unalloyed  pleasure  for  a  certain 
term  of  years.  This  was  TlaJ.ocan,  the  realm  of  the 
god  of  rains  and  waters,  the  terrestrial  paradise, 

1  Oviedo,  Iliftt.  du  Nicaragua,  p.  22. 

2  Torquemada,  Monarquia  Indiana,  lib.  vi.  cap.  27. 


THE  RIVER  OF  DEATH.  247 

whence  flowed  all  the  rivers  of  the  earth,  and  all  the 
nourishment  of  the  race.  The  diseases  of  which  per 
sons  died  marked  this  destination.  Such  as  were 
drowned,  or  struck  by  lightning,  or  succumbed  to 
humoral  complaints,  as  dropsies  and  leprosy,  were 
by  these  tokens  known  to  be  chosen  as  the  subjects 
of  Tlaloc.  To  such,  said  the  natives,  "death  is  the 
commencement  of  another  life,  it  is  as  waking  from  a 
dream,  and  the  soul  is  no  more  human  but  divine 
(teot)"  Therefore  they  addressed  their  dying  in  terms 
like  these :  "  Sir,  or  lady,  awake,  awake ;  already  does 
the  dawn  appear ;  even  now  is  the  light  approaching  ; 
already  do  the  birds  of  yellow  plumage  begin  their 
songs  to  greet  thee ;  already  are  the  gayly-tinted 
butterflies  flitting  around  thee."1 

Before  proceeding  to  the  more  gloomy  portion  of 
the  subject,  to  the  destiny  of  those  souls  who  were 
not  chosen  for  the  better  part,  I  must  advert  to  a 
curious  coincidence  in  the  religious  reveries  of  many 
nations  which  finds  its  explanation  in  the  belief  that 
the  house  of  the  sun  is  the  home  of  the  blessed,  and 
proves  that  this  was  the  first  conception  of  most 
natural  religions.  It  is  seen  in  the  events  and  obsta 
cles  of  the  journey  to  the  happy  land.  We  everywhere 
hear  of  a  water  which  the  soul  must  cross,  and  an 
opponent,  either  a  dog  or  an  evil  spirit,  which  it  has 
to  contend  with.  We  are  all  familiar  with  the  dog 
Cerberus  (called  by  Homer  simply  "the  dog"),  which 
disputed  the  passage  of  the  river  Styx  over  which 
the  souls  must  cross;  and  with  the  custom  of  the 
vikings,  to  be  buried  in  a  boat  so  that  they  might 

1  Saliagun,  Hist,  de  la  Nueva  EspaTia,  lib.  x.  cap.  29. 


248  7777^  SOUL  AND  ITS  DESTINY. 

cross  the  waters  of  Ginunga-gap  to  the  inviting 
strands  of  Godheim.  Eelics  of  this  belief  are  found 
in  the  Koran  which  describes  the  bridge  el  Sirat, 
thin  as  a  hair  and  sharp  as  a  scirnetar,  stretched  in  a 
single  span  from  heaven  to  earth;  in  the  Persian 
legend,  where  the  rainbow  arch  Chinevad  is  flung 
across  the  gloomy  depths  between  this  world  and  the 
home  of  the  happy;  and  even  in  the  current  Chris 
tian  allegory  which  represents  the  waters  of  the 
mythical  Jordan  rolling  between  us  and  the  Celestial 
City. 

How  strange  at  first  sight  does  it  seem  that  the 
Hurons  and  Iroquois  should  have  told  the  earliest 
missionaries  that,  after  death  the  soul  must  cross  a 
deep  and  swift  river  on  a  bridge  formed  by  a  single 
slender  tree  most  lightly  supported,  where  it  had  to 
defend  itself  against  the  attacks  of  a  dog?1  If  only 
they  had  expressed  this  belief,  it  might  have  passed 
for  a  coincidence  merely.  But  the  Athapascas  (Che- 
pewyans)  also  told  of  a  great  water,  which  the  soul 
must  cross  in  a  stone  canoe;  the  Algonkins  and 
Dakotas,  of  a  stream  bridged  by  an  enormous  snake, 
or  a  narrow  and  precipitous  rock,  and  the  Arauca- 
nians  of  Chili  of  a  sea  in  the  west,  in  crossing  which 
the  soul  was  required  to  pay  toll  to  a  malicious  old 
woman.  "Were  it  unluckily  impecunious,  she  de 
prived  it  of  an  eye.2  With  the  Aztecs  this  water  was 
called  Chicunoapa,  the  Nine  Kivers.  It  was  guarded 
by  a  dog  and  a  green  dragon,  to  conciliate  which  the 
dead  were  furnished  with  slips  of  paper  by  way  of  toll. 

1  Eel.  de  la  Nouv.  France,  1G36,  p.  105. 

2  Molina,    Ilist.    of   Chili,    ii.  p.    81,    and  others  in   Waitz, 
Anthropologie,  iii.  p.  197. 


THE  RIVER  OF  DEATH.  249 

The  Greenland  Eskimos  thought  that  the  waters  roared  I 
through  an  unfathomable  abyss  over  which  there  was/ 
no  other  bridge  than  a  wheel  slippery  with  ice,  forever  \ 
revolving  with  fearful  rapidity,  or  a  path  narrow  as 
a  cord  with  nothing  to  hold  on  by.     On  the   other 
side  sits  a  horrid  old  woman  gnashing  her  teeth  and 
tearing  her  hair  with  rage.     As  each  soul  approaches 
she  burns  a  feather  under  its  nose;  if  it  faints  she 
seizes  it  for  her  prisoner,  but  if  the  soul's  guardian 
spirit  can  overcome  her,  it  passes  through  in  safety./ 

The  similarity  to  the  passage  of  the  soul  across  the 
Styx,  and  the  toll  of  the  obolus  to  Charon  is  in  the 
Aztec  legend  still  more  striking,  when  we  remember 
that  the  Styx  was  the  ninth  head  of  Oceanus  (omitting 
the  Cocytus,  often  a  branch  of  the  Styx).  The  Nine 
Eivers  probably  refer  to  the  nine  Lords  of  the  Night, 
ancient  Aztec  deities  guarding  the  nocturnal  hours, 
and  introduced  into  their  calendar.  The  Tupis  and 
Caribs,  the  Mayas  and  Creeks,  entertained  very 
similar  expectations. 

We  are  to  seek  the  explanation  of  these  wide 
spread  theories  of  the  soul's  journey  in  the  equally 
prevalent  tenet  that  the  sun  is  its  destination,  and 
that  that  luminary  has  his  abode  beyond  the  ocean 
stream,  which  in  all  primitive  geographies  rolls  its 
waves  around  the  habitable  land.  This  ocean  stream 
is  the  water  which  all  have  to  attempt  to  pass,  and 
woe  to  him  whom  the  spirit  of  the  waters,  represented 
either  as  the  old  woman,  the  dragon,  or  the  dog  of 
Hecate,  seizes  and  overcomes.  In  the  lush  fancy  of 

1  NacJiricliten  von  Grbnland  aus  dem  Tagebuche  'com  Biscliof 
Paul  Eyede,  p.  104:  Kopenhagen,  1790. 


250  THE  SOUL  AND  ITS  DESTINY. 

the  Orient,  the  spirit  of  the  waters  becomes  the  spirit 
of  evil,  the  ocean  stream  the  abyss  of  hell,  and  those 
who  fail  in  the  passage  the  damned,  who  are 'fore 
doomed  to  evil  deeds  and  endless  torture. 

No  such  ethical  bearing  as  this  was  ever  assigned 
the  myth  by  the  red  race  before  they  were  taught  by 
Europeans.  Father  Brebeuf  could  only  find  that  the 
souls  of  suicides  and  those  killed  in  war  were  sup 
posed  to  live  apart  from  the  others;  "but  as  to  the 
souls  of  scoundrels,"  he  adds,  "  so  far  from  being  shut 
out,  they  are  the  welcome  guests,  though  for  that  mat 
ter  if  it  were  not  so,  their  paradise  would  be  a  total 
desert,  as  Huron  and  scoundrel  (Huron  et  larron)  are 
one  and  the  same."1  When  the  Minnetarees  told  Major 
Long  and  the  Mannicicas  of  the  La  Plata  the  Jesuits,2 
that  the  souls  of  the  bad  fell  into  the  waters  and  were 
swept  away,  these  are,  beyond  doubt,  attributable 
either  to  a  false  interpretation,  or  to  Christian  instruc 
tion.  No  such  distinction  is  probable  among  savages. 
The  Brazilian  natives  divided  the  dead  into  classes, 
supposing  that  the  drowned,  those  killed  by  violence, 
and  those  yielding  to  disease,  lived  in  separate  re 
gions  ;  but  no  ethical  reason  whatever  seems  to  have 
been  connected  with  this.3  If  the  conception  of  a 
place  of  moral  retribution  was  known  at  all  to  the 
race,  it  should  be  found  easily  recognizable  in  Mexico, 
Yucatan,  or  Peru.  But  the  so-called  "  hells  "  of  their 
religions  have  no  such  significance,  and  the  spirits  of 
evil,  who  were  identified  by  early  writers  with  Satan, 
no  more  deserve  the  name  than  does  the  Greek  Pluto. 

1  Rel.  de  la  Nouv.  France,  1636,  p.  105. 

2  Long's  Expedition,  i.  p.  280  ;  Waitz,  Anthropologie,  Hi.  p.  531. 

3  Miiller,  Amer.  Urreligionen,  p.  287. 


AND  XIBALBA.  251 

Qupay  or  Supay,  the  Shadow,  in  Peru  was  sup 
posed  to  rule  the  land  of  shades  in  the  centre  of  the 
earth.  To  him  went  all  souls  not  destined  to  be  the 
companions  of  the  Sun.  This  is  all  we  know  of  his 
attributes;  and  the  assertion  of  Garcilasso  de  laYega, 
that  he  was  the  analogue  of  the  Christian  Devil,  and 
that  his  name  was  never  pronounced  without  spitting 
and  muttering  a  curse  on  his  head,  may  be  invali 
dated  by  the  testimony  of  an  earlier  and  better  autho 
rity  on  the  religion  of  Peru,  who  calls  him  the  god 
of  rains,  and  adds  that  the  famous  Inca,  Huayna 
Capac,  was  his  high  priest.1 

"The  devil,"  says  Cogolludo  of  the  Mayas,  "is 
called  by  them  Xibilha,  which  means  he  who  disap 
pears  or  vanishes."2  In  the  legends  of  the  Quiches, 
the  name  Xibalba  is  given  as  that  of  the  under- world 
ruled  by  the  grim  lords  One  Death  and  Seven 
Deaths.  The  derivation  of  the  name  is  from  a  root 
meaning  to  fear,  from  which  comes  the  term  in  Maya 
dialects  for  a  ghost  or  phantom.3  Under  the  influ 
ence  of  a  century  of  Christian  catechizing,  the  Quiche 
legends  portray  this  really  as  a  place  of  torment,  and 
its  rulers  as  malignant  and  powerful ;  but  as  I  have 

1  Compare  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  Hist,  des  Incas.,\\\.  ii.  chap, 
ii.,  with  Lett,  sur  les  Superstitions  du  Perou,  p.  104.     (^upay  is 
undoubtedly  a  personal  form  from  (Jupan,  a  shadow.     (See  Hol- 
guin,  Vocab.  de  la  Lengua  Quichua,  p.  80:  Cuzco,  1608.) 

2  "El  que  desparece  6  desvanece,"  Hist,  de  Yucathan,  lib.  iv. 
cap.  7. 

3  Ximenes,  Vocab.  Quiche,  p.  224.     The  attempt  of  the  Abbe 
Brasseur  to  make  of  Xibalba  an  ancient  kingdom  of  renown  with 
Palenque  as  its   capital,  is  so   utterly  unsupported  and  wildly 
hypothetical,  as  to  justify  the  humorous  flings  which  have  so 
often  been  cast  at  antiquaries. 


252  THE  SOUL  AND  ITS  DESTINY. 

before  pointed  out,  they  do  so,  protesting  that  such 
was  not  the  ancient  belief,  and  they  let  fall  no  word 
that  shows  that  it  was  regarded  as  the  destination  of 
the  morally  bad.  The  original  meaning  of  the  name 
given  by  Cogolludo  points  unmistakably  to  the  sim 
ple  fact  of  disappearance  from  among  men,  and  cor 
responds  in  harmlessness  to  the  true  sense  of  those 
words  of  fear,  School,  Hades,  Hell,  all  signifying  hid 
den  from  sight,  and  only  endowed  with  more  grim 
associations  by  the  imaginations  of  later  generations.1 

Mictlanteuctli,  Lord  of  Mictlan,  from  a  word  mean 
ing  to  die,  was  the  Mexican  Pluto.  Like  Qupay, 
he  dwelt  in  the  subterranean  regions,  and  his  palace 
was  named  Tlalxicco,  the  navel  of  the  earth.  Yet  he 
was  also  located  in  the  far  north,  and  that  point  of 
the  compass  and  the  north  wind  were  named  after  him. 
Those  who  descended  to  him  were  oppressed  by  the 
darkness  of  his  abode,  but  were  subjected  to  no  other 
trials;  nor  were  they  sent  thither  as  a  punishment, 
but  merely  from  having  died  of  diseases  unfitting 
them  for  Tlalocan.  Mictlanteuctli  was  said  to  be  the 
most  powerful  of  the  gods.  For  who  is  stronger  than 
Death  ?  And  who  dare  defy  the  Grave  ?  As  the  skald 
lets  Odin  say  to  Bragi:  U0ur  lot  is  uncertain;  even 
on  the  hosts  of  the  gods  gazes  the  gray  Fenris  wolf."2 

These  various  abodes  to  which  the  incorporeal  man 
took  flight  were  not  always  his  everlasting  home. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  where  a  plurality  of  souls 

1  Scheol  is  from  a  Hebrew  word,  signifying  to  dig,  to  hide  in 
the  earth.    Hades  signifies  the  unseen  world.    Hell  Jacob  Grimm 
derives  from  liilan,  to  conceal  in  the  earth,  and  it  is  cognate  with 
hole  and  hollow. 

2  Pennock,  Religion  of  the  Northmen,  p.  148. 


METEMPSYCHOSIS.  253 

was  believed,  one  of  these,  soon  after  death,  entered 
another  body  to  recommence  life  on  earth.  Acting 
under  this  persuasion,  the  Algonkin  women  who  de 
sired  to  become  mothers,  flocked  to  the  couch  of  those 
about  to  die,  in  hope  that  the  vital  principle,  as  it 
passed  from  the  body,  would  enter  theirs,  and  ferti 
lize  their  sterile  wombs ;  and  when,  among  the  Semi- 
noles  of  Florida,  a  mother  died  in  childbirth,  the 
infant  was  held  over  her  face  to  receive  her  parting1 
spirit,  and  thus  acquire  strength  and  knowledge  for 
its  future  use.1  So  among  the  Tahkalis,  the  priest 
is  accustomed  to  lay  his  hand  on  the  head  of  the 
nearest  relative  of  the  deceased,  and  to  blow  into  him 
the  soul  of  the  departed,  which  is  supposed  to  come 
to  life  in  his  next  child.2  Probably,  with  a  reference 
to  the  current  tradition  that  ascribes  the  origin  of 
man  to  the  earth,  and  likens  his  life  to  that  of  the 
plant,  the  Mexicans  were  accustomed  to  say  that  at 
one  time  all  men  have  been  stones,  and  that  at  last 
they  would  all  return  to  stones;3  and,  acting  literally 
on  this  conviction,  they  interred  with  the  bones  of 
the  dead  a  small  green  stone,  which  was  called  the 
principle  of  life. 

Whether  any  nations  accepted  the  doctrine  of  me 
tempsychosis,  arid  thought  that  "the  souls  of  their 
grandams  might  haply  inhabit  a  partridge,"  we  are 
without  the  means  of  knowing.  La  Hontan  denies  it 
positively  of  the  Algonkins;  but  the  natives  of  Popo- 

1  La  Hontan,  Voy.  dans  V Am.  Sept.,  i.  p.  232;  Narrative  of 
Oceola  Nikkanoche,  p.  75. 

2  Morse,  Rep.  on  the  Ind.  Tribes,  App.  p.  345. 

3  Garcia,  Or.  de  los  Indios,  lib.  iv.  cap.  26,  p.  310. 


254  THE  SOUL  AXD  ITS  DESTINY. 

yan  refused  to  kill  cloves,  says  Coreal,1  because  they 
believe  them  inspired  by  the  souls  of  the  departed. 
And  Father  Ignatius  Chome  relates  that  he  heard  a 
woman  of  the  Chiriquanes  in  Buenos  Ayres  say  of  a 
fox:  "May  that  not  be  the  spirit  of  my  dead  daugh 
ter?"3  But  before  accepting  such  testimony  as  deci 
sive,  we  must  first  inquire  whether  these  tribes 
believed  in  a  multiplicity  of  souls,  whether  these 
animals  had  a  symbolical  value,  and  if  not,  whether 
the  soul  was  not  simply  presumed  to  put  on  this 
shape  in  its  journey  to  the  land  of  the  hereafter:  in 
quiries  which  are  unanswered.  Leaving,  therefore, 
the  question  open,  whether  the  sage  of  Samos  had 
any  disciples  in  the  new  world,  another  and  more 
fruitful  topic  is  presented  by  their  well-ascertained 
notions  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead. 

This  seemingly  extraordinary  doctrine,  which  some 
have  asserted  was  entirely  unknown  and  impossible 
to  the  American  Indians,3  was  in  fact  one  of  their 
most  deeply-rooted  and  wide-spread  convictions, 
especially  among  the  tribes  of  the  eastern  United 
States.  It  is  indissolubly  connected  with  their  highest 
theories  of  a  future  life,  their  burial  ceremonies,  and 
their  modes  of  expression.  The  Moravian  Brethren 
give  the  grounds  of  this  belief  with  great  clearness: 
"  That  they  hold  the  soul  to  be  immortal,  and  per 
haps  think  the  body  will  rise  again,  they  give  not 
unclearly  to  understand  when  they  say,  '  We  Indians 
shall  not  for  ever  die ;  even  the  grains  of  corn  we  put 
under  the  earth,  grow  up  and  become  living  things.' 

1  Voiages  aux  Indes  Oc.,  ii.  p.  132. 

2  Lettres  Edif.  et  Cur.,  v.  p.  203. 

3  Alger,  Hist,  of  the  Doctrine  of  a  Future  Life,  p.  72. 


THE  PRESERVATION  OF  BONES.  255 

They  conceive  that  when  the  soul  has  been  a  while 
with  God,  it  can,  if  it  chooses,  return  to  earth  and  be 
born  again."1  This  is  the  highest  and  typical  creed 
of  the  aborigines.  But  instead  of  simply  being  born 
again  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  word,  they  thought 
the  soul  would  return  to  the  bones,  that  these  would 
clothe  themselves  with  flesh,  and  that  the  man  would 
rejoin  his  tribe.  That  this  was  the  real,  though 
often  doubtless  the  dimly  understood  reason  of  the 
custom  of  preserving  the  bones  of  the  deceased,  can 
be  shown  by  various  arguments. 

This  practice  was  almost  universal.  East  of  the 
Mississippi  nearly  every  nation  was  accustomed,  at 
stated  periods — usually  once  in  eight  or  ten  years — 
to  collect  and  clean  the  osseous  remains  of  those  of 
its  number  who  had  died  in  the  intervening  time,  and 
inter  them  in  one  common  sepulchre,  lined  with 
choice  furs,  and  marked  with  a  mound  of  wood, 
stone,  and  earth.  Such  is  the  origin  of  those  immense 
tumuli  filled  with  the  mortal  remains  of  nations 
and  generations  which  the  antiquary,  with  irreverent 
curiosity,  so  frequently  chances  upon  in  all  portions 
of  our  territory.  Throughout  Central  America  the 
same  usage  obtained  in  various  localities,  as  early 
writers  and  existing  monuments  abundantly  testify. 
Instead  of  interring  the  bones,  were  they  those  of 
some  distinguished  chieftain,  they  were  deposited  in 
the  temples  or  the  council-houses,  usually  in  small 
chests  of  canes  or  splints.  Such  were  the  charnel- 
houses  which  the  historians  of  De  Soto's  expedition 
so  often  mention,  and  these  are  the  "  arks"  which 

1  Loskiel,  Ges.  der  Miss,  der  evang.  Bruder,  p.  49. 


256  THE  SOUL  AND  ITS  DESTINY. 

Aclair  and  other  authors,  who  have  sought  to  trace 
the  descent  of  the  Indians  from  the  Jews,  have 
likened  to  that  which  the  ancient  Israelites  bore  with 
them  on  their  migrations.  A  widow  among  the 
Tahkalis  was  obliged  to  carry  the  bones  of  her  de 
ceased  husband  wherever  she  went  for  four  years, 
preserving  them  in  such  a  casket  handsomely  deco 
rated  with  feathers.1  The  Caribs  of  the  mainland 
adopted  the  custom  for  all  without  exception.  About 
a  year  after  death  the  bones  were  cleaned,  bleached, 
painted,  wrapped  in  odorous  balsams,  placed  in  a 
wicker  basket,  and  kept  suspended  from  the  door  of 
their  dwellings.2  When  the  quantity  of  these  heir 
looms  became  burdensome,  they  were  removed  to 
some  inaccessible  cavern,  and  stowed  away  with 
reverential  care.  Such  was  the  cave  Ataruipe,  a  visit 
to  which  has  been  so  eloquently  described  by  Alex 
ander  von  Humboldt  in  his  "  Yiews  of  Nature." 

So  great  was  the  filial  respect  for  these  remains  by 
the  Indians,  that  on  the  Mississippi,  in  Peru,  and 
elsewhere,  no  tyranny,  no  cruelty,  so  embittered  the 
indigenes  against  the  white  explorers  as  the  sacrile 
gious  search  for  treasures  perpetrated  among  the 
sepulchres  of  past  generations.  Unable  to  under 
stand  the  meaning  of  such  deep  feeling,  so  foreign  to 
the  European  who,  without  a  second  thought,  turns 
a  cemetery  into  a  public  square,  or  seeds  it  down  in 
wheat,  the  Jesuit  missionaries  in  Paraguay  accuse  the 
natives  of  worshipping  the  skeletons  of  their  fore- 


1  Richardson,  Arctic  Expedition,  p.  260. 

2  Gumilla,  Hist,  del  Orinoco,  i.  pp.  199,  202,  204. 


THE  SOUL  IN  THE  BONES.  257 

fathers,1  and  the  English  in  Virginia  repeated  it  of 
the  Powhatans. 

The  question  has  been  debated  and  variously  an 
swered,  whether  the  art  of  mummification  was  known 
and  practised  in  America.  Without  entering  into 
the  discussion,  it  is  certain  that  preservation  of  the 
corpse  by  a  long  and  thorough  process  of  exsiccation 
over  a  slow  fire  was  nothing  unusual,  not  only  in 
Peru,  Popoyan,  the  Carib  countries,  and  Nicaragua, 
but  among  many  of  the  tribes  north  of  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  as  I  have  elsewhere  shown.2  The  object 
was  essentially  the  same  as  when  the  bones  alone 
were  preserved;  and  in  the  case  of  rulers,  the  same 
homage  was  often  paid  to  their  corpses  as  had  been 
the  just  due  of  their  living  bodies. 

The  opinion  underlying  all  these  customs  was,  that 
a  part  of  the  soul,  or  one  of  the  souls,  dwelt  in  the 
bones;  that  these  were  the  seeds  which,  planted  in 
the  earth,  or  preserved  unbroken  in  safe  places, 
would,  in  time,  put  on  once  again  a  garb  of  flesh,  and 
germinate  into  living  human  beings.  Language  illus 
trates  this  not  unusual  theory.  The  Iroquois  word 
for  bone  is  esken — for  soul,  atisken,  literally  that 
which  is  within  the  bone.3  In  an  Athapascan  dia 
lect  bone  is  yani,  soul  i-yune.*  The  Hebrew  Eabbis 
taught  that  in  the  bone  lutz,  the  coccyx,  remained  at 
death  the  germ  of  a  second  life,  which,  at  the  proper 
time,  would  develop  into  the  purified  body,  as  the 
plant  from  the  seed. 

1  Rids,  Conquista  Espiritual  del  Paraguay,  p.  48,  in  Lafitau. 

2  Notes  on  the  Floridian  Peninsula,  pp.  191  sqq. 

3  Bruyas,  Bad.  Verborum  Iroquceorum. 

4  Buschmann,  Athapask.  Sprachstamm,  pp.  182,  188. 

17 


258  THE  SOUL  AND  ITS  DESTIXY. 

But  mythology  and  supersitions  add  more  decisive 
testimony.  One  of  the  Aztec  legends  of  the  origin 
of  man  was,  that  after  one  of  the  destructions  of 
the  world  the  gods  took  counsel  together  how  to 
renew  the  species.  It  was  decided  that  one  of  their 
number,  Xolotl,  should  descend  to  Mictlan,  the  realm 
of  the  dead,  and  bring  thence  a  bone  of  the  perished 
race.  The  fragments  of  this  they  sprinkled  with 
blood,  and  on  the  fourth  day  it  grew  into  a  youth, 
the  father  of  the  present  race.1  The  profound  mys 
tical  significance  of  this  legend  is  reflected  in  one 
told  by  the  Quiches,  in  which  the  hero  gods  Hu- 
nahpu  and  Xblanque  succumb  to  the  rulers  of 
Xibalba,  the  darksome  powers  of  death.  Their  bodies 
are  burned,  but  their  bones  are  ground  in  a  mill  and 
thrown  in  the  waters,  lest  they  should  come  to  life. 
Even  this  precaution  is  insufficient — "for  these  ashes 
did  not  go  far;  they  sank  to  the  bottom  of  the  stream, 
where,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  they  were  changed 
into  handsome  youths,  and  their  very  same  features 
appeared  anew.  On  the  fifth  day  they  displayed 
themselves  anew,  and  were  seen  in  the  water  by  the 
people, '"  whence  they  emerged  to  overcome  and  de 
stroy  the  powers  of  death  and  hell  (Xibalba). 

The  strongest  analogies  to  these  myths  are  offered 
by  the  superstitious  rites  of  distant  tribes.  Some  of 
the  Tupis  of  Brazil  were  wont  on  the  death  of  a 
relative  to  dry  and  pulverize  his  bones  and  then  mix 
them  with  their  food,  a  nauseous  practice  they  de 
fended  by  asserting  that  the  soul  of  the  dead  remained 

1  Torqucmada,  Monarquia  Indiana,  lib.  vi.  cap.  41. 

2  Le  Livre  Sacre  des  Quiches,  pp.  175-177. 


PRESER  VA  TION  OF  B ONES.  259 

in  the  bones  and  lived  again  in  the  living.1  Even  the 
lower  animals  were  supposed  to  follow  the  same  law. 
Hardly  any  of  the  hunting  tribes,  before  their  original 
manners  were  vitiated  by  foreign  influence,  permitted 
the  bones  of  game  slain  in  the  chase  to  be  broken,  or 
left  carelessly  about  the  encampment.  They  were 
collected  in  heaps,  or  thrown  into  the  water.  Mrs. 
Eastman  observes  that  even  yet  the  Dakotas  deem  it 
an  omen  of  ill  luck  in  the  hunt,  if  the  dogs  gnaw  the 
bones  or  a  woman  inadvertently  steps  over  them ;  and 
the  Chipeway  interpreter,  John  Tanner,  speaks  of  the 
same  fear  among  that  tribe.  The  Yurucares  of 
Bolivia  carried  it  to  such  an  inconvenient  extent, 
that  they  carefully  put  by  even  small  fish  bones,  say 
ing  that  unless  this  was  done  the  fish  and  game  would 
disappear  from  the  country.2  The  traveller  on  our 
western  prairies  often  notices  the  buffalo  skulls,  count 
less  numbers  of  which  bleach  on  those  vast  plains, 
arranged  in  circles  and  symmetrical  piles  by  the  care 
ful  hands  of  the  native  hunters.  The  explanation  they 
offer  for  this  custom  gives  the  key  to  the  whole  theory 
and  practice  of  preserving  the  osseous  relics  of  the 
dead,  as  well  human  as  brute.  They  say  that,  "  the 
bones  contain  the  spirits  of  the  slain  animals,  and  that 
some  time  in  the  future  they  will  rise  from  the  earth, 
re-clothe  themselves  with  flesh,  and  stock  the  prairies 
anew."3  This  explanation,  which  comes  to  us  from 
indisputable  authority,  sets  forth  in  its  true  light  the 
belief  of  the  red  race  in  a  resurrection.  It  is  not 
possible  to  trace  it  out  in  the  subtleties  with  which 

1  M  tiller,  Amer.  Tlrrelig.,  p.  290,  after  Spix. 

2  D'Orbigny,  Annuaire  des  Voyages,  1845,  p.  77. 

3  Long's  Expedition,  i.  p.  278. 


260  THE  SOUL  AXD  ITS  DESTINY. 

theologians  have  surrounded  it  as  a  dogma.  The  very 
attempt  would  be  absurd.  They  never  occurred  to 
the  Indian.  /He  thought  that  the  soul  ncTw-enjoyTTig 
the  delightL  of  the  happy  hunting  grounds  would 
some  time  return  to  the  bones,  take  on  flesh,  and  live 
again.  Such  is  precisely  the  much  discussed  state 
ment  that  Grarcilasso  de  la  Yega  says  he  often  heard 
from  the  native  Peruvians.  He  adds  that  so  careful 
were  they  lest  any  of  the  body  should  be  lost  that 
they  preserved  even  the  parings  of  their  nails  and 
clippings  of  the  hair.1  In  contradiction  to  this  the 
writer  Acosta  has  been  quoted,  who  says  that  the 
Peruvians  embalmed  their  dead  because  they  "  had 
no  knowledge  that  the  bodies  should  rise  with  the 
soul."2  But,  rightly  understood,  this  is  a  confirmation 
of  La  Yega's  account.  Acosta  means  that  the  Chris 
tian  doctrine  of  the  body  rising  from  the  dust  being 
unknown  to  the  Peruvians  (which  is  perfectly  true), 
they  preserved  the  body  just  as  it  was,  so  that  the 
soul  when  it  returned  to  earth,  as  all  expected,  migj*r 
not  be  at  a  loss  for  a  house  of  flesh. 
-<rhe  notions  thus  entertained  by  the  red  race  on  the 
resurrection  are  peculiar  to  it,  and  stand  apart  from 
those  of  any  other.  They  did  not  look  for  the  second 
life  to  be  either  better  or  worse  than  the  present  one; 
they  regarded  it  neither  as  a  reward  nor  a  punish 
ment  to  be  sent  back  to  the  world  of  the  living ;  nor 
is  there  satisfactory  evidence  that  it  was  ever  distinctly 
connected  with  a  moral  or  physical  theory  of  the  des 
tiny  of  the  universe,  or  even  with  their  prevalent  ex- 

1  Hist,  des  Incas,  lib.  iii.  chap.  7. 

2  Hist,  of  the  New  World,  bk.  v.  chap.  7. 


THE  AMERICAN  MILLENNIUM.  261 

pectation  of  recurrent  epochs  in  the  course  of  nature. 
It  is  true  that  a  writer  whose  personal  veracity  is  above 
all  doubt,  Mr.  Adam  Hodgson,  relates  an  ancient 
tradition  of  the  Choctaws,  to  the  effect  that  the  pre 
sent  world  will  be  consumed  by  a  general  conflagra 
tion,  after  which  it  will  be  reformed  pleasanter  than 
it  now  is,  and  that  then  the  spirits  of  the  dead  will 
return  to  the  bones  in  the  bone  mounds,  flesh  will 
knit  together  their  loose  joints,  and  they  shall  again 
inhabit  their  ancient  territory.1 

There  was  also  a  similar  belief  among  the  Eskimos. 
They  said  that  in  the  course  of  time  the  waters  would 
overwhelm  the  land,  purify  it  of  the  blood  of  the 
dead,  melt  the  icebergs,  and  wash  away  the  steep 
rocks.  A  wind  would  then  drive  off  the  waters,  and 
the  new  land  would  be  peopled  by  reindeers  and 
young  seals.  Then  would  He  above  blow  once  on  the 
bones  of  the  men  and  twice  on  those  of  the  women, 
whereupon  they  would  at  once  start  into  life,  and 
lead  thereafter  a  joyous  existence.2 

But  though  there  is  nothing  in  these  narratives 
alien  to  the  course  of  thought  in  the  native  mind,  yet 
as  the  date  of  the  first  is  recent  (1820),  as  they  are 
not  supported  (so  far  as  I  know)  by  similar  traditions 
elsewhere,  and  as  they  may  have  arisen  from  Christian 
doctrines  of  a  millennium,  I  leave  them  for  future 
investigation. 

What  strikes  us  the  most  in  this  analysis  of  the 
opinions  entertained  by  the  red  race  on  a  future  life 
is  the  clear  and  positive  hope  of  a  hereafter,  in  such 

1  Travels  in  North  America,  p.  280. 

2  Egede,  Nachrichten  von  Gronland,  p.  156. 


262  THE  SOUL  AND  ITS  DESTINY. 

strong  contrast  to  the  feeble  and  vague  notions  of  the 
ancient  Israelites,  Greeks,  and  Komans,  and  yet  the 
entire  inertness  of  this  hope  in  leading  them  to  a 
purer  moral  life.  It  offers  another  proof  that  the 
fulfilment  of  duty  is  in  its  nature  nowise  connected 
with  or  derived  from  a  consideration  of  ultimate 
personal  consequences.  It  is  another  evidence  that 
the  religious  is  wholly  distinct  from  the  moral  senti 
ment,  and  that  the  origin  of  ethics  is  not  to  be  sought 
in  connection  with  the  ideas  of  divinity  and  respon 
sibility. 


CHAP  TEE   X. 

THE  NATIVE   PRIESTHOOD. 

Their  titles.  —  Practitioners  of  the  healing  art  by  supernatural  means.  — 
Their  power  derived  from  natural  magic  and  the  exercise  of  the  clair- 
vojTant  and  mesmeric  faculties.  —  Examples.  —  Epidemic  hysteria.  — 
Their  social  position.  —  Their  duties  as  religious  functionaries.  —  Terms 
of  admission  to  the  Priesthood.  —  Inner  organization  in  various  nations. 
—  Their  esoteric  languages  and  secret  societies. 


picking  painfully  amid  the  ruins  of  a  race 
gone  to  wreck  centuries  ago,  thus  rejecting  much 
foreign  rubbish  and  scrutinizing  each  stone  that  lies 
around,  if  we  still  are  unable  to  rebuild  the  edifice 
in  its  pristine  symmetry  and  beauty,  yet  we  can  at 
least  discern  and  trace  the  ground  plan  and  outlines 
of  the  fane  it  raised  to  God.  Before  leaving  the 
field  to  the  richer  returns  of  more  fortunate  work 
men,  it  will  not  be  inappropriate  to  add  a  sketch  of 
the  ministers  of  these  religions,  the  servants  in  this 
temple. 

Shamans,  conjurers,  sorcerers,  medicine  men, 
wizards,  and  many  another  hard  name  have  been 
given  them,  but  I  shall  call  them  priests,  for  in  their 
poor  way,  as  well  as  any  other  priesthood,  they  set  up 
to  be  the  agents  of  the  gods,  and  the  interpreters  of 
divinity.  No  tribe  was  so  devoid  of  religious  senti 
ment  as  to  be  without  them.  Their  power  was  terri 
ble,  and  their  use  of  it  unscrupulous.  Neither  men 
nor  gods,  death  nor  life,  the  winds  nor  the  waves, 


264  THE  NATIVE  PRIESTHOOD. 

were  beyond  their  control.  Like  Old  Men  of  the 
Sea,  they  have  clung  to  the  neck  of  their  nations, 
throttling  all  attempts  at  progress,  binding  them  to 
the  thraldom  of  superstition  and  profligacy,  dragging 
them  down  to  wretchedness  and  death.  Christianity 
and  civilization  meet  in  them  their  most  determined, 
most  implacable  foes.  But  what  is  this  but  the  story 
of  priestcraft  and  intolerance  everywhere,  which  Old 
Spain  can  repeat  as  well  as  New  Spain,  the  white 
race  as  well  as  the  red  ?  Blind  leaders  of  the  blind, 
dupers  and  duped  fall  into  the  ditch. 

In  their  own  languages  they  are  variously  called; 
by  the  Algonkins  and  Dakotas,  "  those  knowing 
divine  things1'  and  "  dreamers  of  the  gods"  (manitou- 
siouj  wakanwacipi)]  in  Mexico,  "  masters  or  guardians 
of  the  divine  things"  (teopixqui,  teotecuhlli)-  in 
Cherokee,  their  title  means,  "  possessed  of  the  divine 
fire"  (atsilung  kelawhi);  in  Iroquois,  "keepers  of  the 
faith" (honundeunt);  in  Quichua,  "the learned"  (amau to); 
in  Maya,  "  the  listeners"  (cocome).  The  popular  term 
in  French  and  English  of  "medicine  men"  is  not  such 
a  misnomer  as  might  be  supposed.  The  noble  science 
of  medicine  is  connected  with  divinity  not  only  by 
the  rudest  savage  but  the  profoundest  philosopher,  as 
has  been  already  adverted  to.  When  sickness  is 
looked  upon  as  the  effect  of  the  anger  of  a  god,  or  as 
the  malicious  infliction  of  a  sorcerer,  it  is  natural  to 
seek  help  from  those  who  assume  to  control  the 
unseen  world,  and  influence  the  fiats  of  the  Almighty. 
The  recovery  from  disease  is  the  kindliest  exhibition 
of  divine  power.  Therefore  the  earliest  canons  of 
medicine  in  India  and  Egypt  are  attributed  to  no  less 
distinguished  authors  than  the  gods  Brahma  and 


MEDICINE  vs.   THEOLOGY.  205 

Thoth;1  therefore  the  earliest  practitioners  of  the 
healing  art  are  universally  the  ministers  of  religion. 
But,  however  creditable  this  origin  is  to  medicine, 
its  partnership  with  theology  was  no  particular 
advantage  to  it.  These  mystical  doctors  shared  the 
contempt  still  so  prevalent  among  ourselves  for  a 
treatment  based  on  experiment  and  reason,  and  re 
garded  the  administration  of  emetics  and  purgatives, 
baths  and  diuretics,  with  a  contempt  quite  equal  to 
that  of  the  disciples  of  Hahnemann.  The  practitioners 
of  the  rational  school  formed  a  separate  class  among 
the  Indians,  and  had  nothing  to  do  with  amulets, 
powwows,  or  spirits.2  They  were  of  different  name 
and  standing,  and  though  held  in  less  estimation,  such 
valuable  additions  to  the  pharmacopoeia  as  guaiacum, 
cinchona,  and  ipecacuanha,  were  learned  from  them. 
The  priesthood  scorned  such  ignoble  means.  "Were 
they  summoned  to  a  patient,  they  drowned  his  groans 
in  a  barbarous  clangor  of  instruments  in  order  to 
fright  away  the  demon  that  possessed  him ;  they 
sucked  and  blew  upon  the  diseased  organ,  they 
sprinkled  him  with  water,  and  catching  it  again  threw 
it  on  the  ground,  thus  drowning  out  the  disease;  thev 
rubbed  the  part  with  their  hands,  and  exhibiting  a 
bone  or  splinter  asserted  that  they  drew  it  from  the 
bodv,  and  that  it  had  been  the  cause  of  the  malady, 
they  manufactured  a  little  image  to  represent  the 
spirit  of  sickness,  and  spitefully  knocked  it  to  pieces, 
thus  vicariously  destroying  its  prototype ;  they  sang 
doleful  and  monotonous  chants  at  the  top  of  their 

1  Haeser,  GescMcJite  der  Medicin,  pp.  4,  7 :  Jena,  184-5. 

2  Schoolcraft,  Ind.  Tribes,  v.  p.  440. 


266  THE  NATIVE  PRIESTHOOD. 

voices,  screwed  their  countenances  into  hideous 
grimaces,  twisted  their  bodies  into  unheard  of  contor 
tions,  and  by  all  accounts  did  their  utmost  to  merit 
the  honorarium  they  demanded  for  their  services.  A 
double  motive  spurred  them  to  spare  no  pains.  For 
if  they  failed,  not  only  was  their  reputation  gone,  but 
the  next  expert  called  in  was  likely  enough  to  hint, 
with  that  urbanity  so  traditional  in  the  profession,  that 
the  illness  was  in  fact  caused  or  much  increased  by 
the  antagonistic  nature  of  the  remedies  previously 
employed,  whereupon  the  chances  were  that  the 
doctor's  life  fell  into  greater  jeopardy  than  that  of  his 
quondam  patient. 

Considering  the  probable  result  of  this  treatment, 
we  may  be  allowed  to  doubt  whether  it  redounded  on 
the  whole  very  much  to  the  honor  of  the  fraternity. 
Their  strong  points  are  rather  to  be  looked  for  in  the 
real  knowledge  gained  by  a  solitary  and  reflective 
life,  by  an  earnest  study  of  the  appearances  of  nature, 
and  of  those  hints  and  forest  signs  which  are  wholly 
lost  on  the  white  man  and  beyond  the  ordinary 
insight  of  a  native.  Travellers  often  tell  of  changes 
of  the  weather  predicted  by  them  with  astonishing 
foresight,  and  of  information  of  singular  accuracy 
and-  extent  gleaned  from  most  meagre  materials. 
There  is  nothing  in  this  to  shock  our  sense  of  pro 
bability — much  to  elevate  our  opinion  of  the  native 
sagacity.  They  were  also  adepts  in  tricks  of  sleight 
of  hand,  and  had  no  mean  acquaintance  with  what  is 
called  natural  magic.  They  would  allow  themselves 
to  be  tied  hand  and  foot  with  knots  innumerable,  and 
at  a  sign  would  shake  them  loose  as  so  many  wisps  of 
straw ;  they  would  spit  fire  and  swallow  hot  coals, 


MAGIC  AND   WITCHCRAFT.  267 

pick  glowing  stones  from  the  flames,  walk  naked 
through,  a  fire,  and  plunge  their  arms  to  the  shoulder 
in  kettles  of  boiling  water  with  apparent  impunity.1 
Nor  was  this  all.  With  a  skill  not  inferior  to  that 
of  the  jugglers  of  India,  they  could  plunge  knives 
into  vital  parts,  vomit  blood,  or  kill  one  another  out 
and  out  to  all  appearances,  and  yet  in  a  few  minutes 
be  as  well  as  ever ;  they  could  set  fire  to  articles  of 
clothing  and  even  houses,  and  by  a  touch  of  their  magic 
restore  them  instantly  as  perfect  as  before.2  If  it  were 
not  within  our  power  to  see  most  of  these  miracles 
performed  any  night  in  one  of  our  great  cities  by  a 
well  dressed  professional,  we  would  at  once  deny 
their  possibility.  As  it  is,  they  astonish  us  only  too 

btle. 

One  of  the  most  peculiar  and  characteristic  exhi 
bitions  of  their  power,  was  to  summon  a  spirit  to 
answer  inquiries  concerning  the  future  and  the  absent. 
A  great  similarity  marked  this  proceeding  in  all 
northern  tribes  from  the  Eskimos  to  the  Mexicans.  A 
circular  or  conical  lodge  of  stout  poles  four  or  eight 
in  number  planted  firmly  in  the  ground,  was  covered 
with  skins  or  mats,  a  small  aperture  only  being  left 
for  the  seer  to  enter.  Once  in,  he  carefully  closed 
the  hole  and  commenced  his  incantations.  Soon  the 
lodge  trembles,  the  strong  poles  shake  and  bend  as 
with  the  united  strength  of  a  dozen  men,  and  strange, 
unearthly  sounds,  now  far  aloft  in  the  air,  now  deep 

1  Carver,  Travels  in  North  America,  p.  73  :  Boston,  1802  ;  Nar 
rative  of  John  Tanner,  p.  135. 

2  Saliagun,  Hist,  de  la  Nueva  Espana,  lib.  x.  cap.  20  ;  Le  Liwe 
Sacre  des  Quiches,  p.  177;  Lett,  sur  les  Superstit.  du  Perou,  pp. 
89,  91. 


208  THE  NATIVE  PRIESTHOOD. 

in  the  ground,  anon  approaching  near  and  nearer, 
reach  the  ears  of  the  spectators.  At  length  the  priest 
announces  that  the  spirit  is  present,  and  is  prepared 
to  answer  questions.  An  indispensable  preliminary 
to  any  inquiry  is  to  insert  a  handful  of  tobacco,  or  a 
string  of  beads,  or  some  such  douceur  under  the 
skins,  ostensibly  for  the  behoof  of  the  celestial 
visitor,  who  would  seem  not  to  be  above  earthly 
wants  and  vanities.  The  replies  received,  though 
occasionally  singularlv  clear  and  correct,  are  usually 
of  that  profoundly  ambiguous  purport  which  leaves 
the  anxious  inquirer  little  wiser  than  he  was  before. 
For  all  this,  ventriloquism,  trickery,  and  shrewd 
knavery  are  sufficient  explanations.  Nor  does  it 
materially  interfere  with  this  view,  that  converted 
Indians,  on  whose  veracity  we  can  implicitly  rely, 
have  repeatedly  averred  that  in  performing  this  rite 
they  themselves  did  not  move  the  medicine  lodge  ; 
for  nothing  is  easier  than  in  the  state  of  nervous 
excitement  they  were  then  in  to  be  self-deceived,  as 
the  now  familiar  phenomenon  of  table-turning  ilju 
trates. 

But  there  is  something  more  than  these  vulgar  arts 
now  and  then  to  be  perceived.  There  are  statements 
supported  by  unquestionable  testimony,  which  ought 
not  to  be  passed  over  in  silence,  and  yet  I  cannot  but 
approach  them  with  hesitation.  They  are  so  revolt- 
ing  to  the  laws  of  exact  science,  so  alien,  I  had  almost 
said,  to  the  experience  of  our  lives.  Yet  is  this 
true,  or  are  such  experiences  only  ignored  and  put 
aside  without  serious  consideration  ?  Are  there  not 
in  the  history  of  each  of  us  passages  which  strike 
our  retrospective  thought  with  awe,  almost  with 


NATIVE  CLAIRVOYANCE.  269 

terror  ?  Are  there  not  in  nearly  every  community 
individuals  who  possess  a  mysterious  power,  con 
cerning  whose  origin,  mode  of  action,  and  limits,  we 
and  they  are  alike  in  the  dark?  I  refer  to  such 
organic  forces  as  are  popularly  summed  up  under  the 
words  clairvoyance,  mesmerism,  rhabdomancy,  animal 
magnetism,  physical  spiritualism.  Civilized  thou 
sands  stake  their  faith  and  hope  here  and  hereafter, 
on  the  truths  of  these  manifestations ;  rational  medi 
cine  recognizes  their  existence,  and  while  it  attributes 
them  to  morbid  and  exceptional  influences,  confesses 
its  want  of  more  exact  knowledge,  and  refrains  from 
barren  theorizing.  Let  us  follow  her  example,  and 
hold  it  enough  to  show  that  such  powers,  whatever 
they  are,  were  known  to  the  native  priesthood  as 
well  as  the  modern  spiritualists,  and  the  miracle 
^\  mongers  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

Their  highest  development  is  what  our  ancestors 
called  "second  sight."  That  under  certain  condi 
tions  knowledge  can  pass  from  one  mind  to  another 
otherwise  than  through  the  ordinary  channels  of  the 
senses,  is  familiarly  shown  by  the  examples  of  persons 
en  rapport.  The  limit  to  this  we  do  not  know,  but  it 
is  not  unlikely  that  clairvoyance  or  second  sight  is 
based  upon  it.  In  his  autobiography,  the  celebrated 
Sac  chief  Black  Hawk,  relates  that  his  great  grand 
father  "  was  inspired  by  a  belief  that  at  the  end  of 
four  years,  he  should  see  a  white  man,  who  would  be 
to  him  a  father."  Under  the  direction  of  this  vision 
he  travelled  eastward  to  a  certain  spot,  and  there,  as 
he  was  forewarned,  met  a  Frenchman,  through  whom 
the  nation  was  brought  into  alliance  with  France.1 

1  Life  of  Black  Hawk,  p.  13. 


270  THE  NATIVE  PRIESTHOOD. 

No  one  at  all  versed  in  the  Indian  character  will 
doubt  the  implicit  faith  with  which  this  legend  was 
told  and  heard.  But  we  may  be  pardoned  our  scepti 
cism,  seeing  there  are  so  many  chances  of  error.  It  is 
not  so  with  an  anecdote  related  by  Captain  Jonathan 
Carver,  a  cool-headed  English  trader,  whose  little 
book  of  travels  is  an  unquestioned  authority.  In 
1767,  he  was  among  the  Killistenoes  at  a  time  when 
they  were  in  great  straits  for  food,  and  depending 
upon  the  arrival  of  the  traders  to  rescue  them  from 
starvation.  They  persuaded  the  chief  priest  to  con 
sult  the  divinities  as  to  when  the  relief  would  arrive. 
After  the  usual  preliminaries,  this  magnate  announced 
that  next  day,  precisely  when  the  sun  reached  the 
zenith,  a  canoe  would  arrive  with  further  tidings.  At 
the  appointed  hour  the  whole  village,  together  with 
the  incredulous  Englishman,  was  on  the  beach,  and 
sure  enough,  at  the  minute  specified,  a  canoe  swung 
round  a  distant  point  of  land,  and  rapidly  approaching 
the  shore  brought  the  expected  news.1 

Charlevoix  is  nearly  as  trustworthy  a  writer  as 
Carver.  Yet  he  deliberately  relates  an  equally 
singular  instance.2 

But  these  examples  are  surpassed  by  one  described 
in  the  Atlantic  Monthly  of  July,  1866,  the  author  of 
which,  John  Mason  Brown,  Esq.,  has  assured  me  of 
its  accuracy  in  every  particular.  Some  years  since, 
at  the  head  of  a  party  of  voyageurs,  he  set  forth  in 
search  of  a  band  of  Indians  somewhere  on  the  vast 
plains  along  the  tributaries  of  the  Copper-mine  and 

1  Travs.  in  North  America,  p.  74. 
8  Journal  Historique,  p.  3G2. 


THE  PO  WER  OF  SECOXD  SIGHT.  271 

Mackenzie  rivers.  Danger,  disappointment,  and  the 
fatigues  of  the  road,  induced  one  after  another  to 
turn  back,  until  of  the  original  ten  only  three  re 
mained.  They  also  were  on  the  point  of  giving  up 
the  apparently  hopeless  quest,  when  they  were  met 
by  some  warriors  of  the  very  band  they  were  seek 
ing.  These  had  been  sent  out  by  one  of  their  medi 
cine  men  to  find  three  whites,  whose  horses,  arms, 
attire,  and  personal  appearance  he  minutely  described, 
which  description  was  repeated  to  Mr.  Brown  by  the 
warriors  before  they  saw  his  two  companions.  When 
afterwards,  the  priest,  a  frank  and  simple-minded 
man,  was  asked  to  explain  this  extraordinary  occur 
rence,  he  could  offer  no  other  explanation  than  that 
"he  saw  them  coming,  and  heard  them  talk  on  their 
journey."1 

Many  tales  such  as  these  have  been  recorded  by 
travellers,  and  however  much  they  may  shock  our 
sense  of  probability,  as  well-authenticated  exhibitions 
of  a  power  which  sways  the  Indian  mind,  and  which 

1  Sometimes  facts  like  this  can  be  explained  by  the  quickness 
of  perception  acquired  by  constant  exposure  to  danger.  The 
mind  takes  cognizance  unconsciously  of  trifling  incidents,  the 
sum  of  which  leads  it  to  a  conviction  which  the  individual  re 
gards  almost  as  an  inspiration.  This  is  the  explanation  of  pre 
sentiments.  But  this  does  not  apply  to  cases  like  that  of  Sweden- 
borg,  who  described  a  conflagration  going  on  at  Stockholm, 
when  he  was  at  Gottenberg,  three  hundred  miles  away.  Psycho 
logists  who  scorn  any  method  of  studying  the  mind  but  through 
physiology,  are  at  a  loss  in  such  cases,  and  take  refuge  in 
refusing  them  credence.  Theologians  call  them  inspirations 
either  of  devils  or  angels,  as  they  happen  to  agree  or  disagree  in 
religious  views  with  the  person  experiencing  them.  True 
science  reserves  its  opinion  until  further  observation  enlightens 
it. 


272  THE  NATIVE  PRIESTHOOD. 

has  ever  prejudiced  it  so  unchangeably  against  Chris 
tianity  and5  civilization,  they  cannot  be  disregarded. 
Whether  they  too  are  but  specimens  of  refined 
knavery,  whether  they  are  instigations  of  the  Devil, 
or  whether  they  must  be  classed  with  other  facts  as 
illustrating  certain  obscure  and  curious  mental  facul 
ties,  each  may  decide  as  the  bent  of  his  mind  inclines 
him,  for  science  makes  no  decision. 
r  Those  nervous  conditions  associated  with  the  name 
f  of  Mesmer  were  nothing  new  to  the  Indian  magi 
cians.  Kubbing  and  stroking  the  sick,  and  the  laying 
on  of  hands,  were  very  common  parts  of  their  clinical 
procedures,  and  at  the  initiations  to  their  societies 
they  were  frequently  exhibited.  Observers  have 
related  that  among  the  Nez  Percys  of  Oregon,  the 
novice  was  put  to  sleep  by  songs,  incantations,  and 
"  certain  passes  of  the  hand,"  and  that  with  the  Da- 
kotas  he  would  be  struck  lightly  on  the  breast  at  a 
preconcerted  moment,  and  instantly  "  would  drop 
prostrate  on  his  face,  his  muscles  rigid  and  quivering 
in  every  fibre."1 

There  is  no  occasion  to  suppose  deceit  in  this.  It 
finds  its  parallel  in  every  race  and  every  age,  and 
rests  on  a  characteristic  trait  of  certain  epochs  and 
certain  men,  which  leads  them  to  seek  the  divine, 
not  in  thoughtful  contemplation  on  the  laws  of  the 
universe  and  the  facts  of  self-consciousness,  but  in 
an  entire  immolation  of  the  latter,  a  sinking  of  their 
own  individuality  in  that  of  the  spirits  whose  alliance 
they  seek.  This  is  an  outgrowth  of  that  ignoring  of 
the  universality  of  Law,  which  belongs  to  the  lower 

1  Schoolcraft,  Indian  Tribes,  iii.  p.  287 ;  v.  p.  652. 


*  THE  A  VENUES  TO  DIVINITY.  273 

stages  of  enlightenment.1  And  as  this  is  never  done 
with  impunity,  but  with  iron  certainty  brings  its 
punishment  with  it,  the  study  of  the  mental  condi 
tions  thus  evoked,  and  the  results  which  follow  them, 
offers  a  salutary  subject  of  reflection  to  the-theologian 
as  well  as  the  physician.  For  these  examples  of 
nervous  pathology  are  identical  in  kind,  and  alike  in 
consequences,  whether  witnessed  in  the  primitive 
forests  of  the  New  World,  among  the  convulsionists 
of  St.  Medard,  or  in  the  excited  scenes  of  a  religious 
revival  in  one  of  our  own  churches. 

Sleeplessness  and  abstemiousness,  carried  to  the 
utmost  verge  of  human  endurance — seclusion,  and 
the  pertinacious  fixing  of  the  mind  on  one  subject — 
obstinate  gloating  on  some  morbid  fancy,  rarely  failed 
to  bring  about  hallucinations  with  all  the  garb  of 
reality.  Physicians  are  well  aware  that  the  more 
frequently  these  diseased  conditions  of  the  mind  are 
sought,  the  more  readily  they  are  found.  Then, 
again,  they  were  often  induced  by  intoxicating  and 
narcotic  herbs.  Tobacco,  the  maguey,  coca;  in  Cali 
fornia  the  chucuaco ;  among  the  Mexicans  the  snake 
plant,  ollinhiqui  or  coaxihuitl ;  and  among  the  south 
ern  tribes  of  our  own  country  the  cassine  yupon  and 
iris  versicolor,2  were  used;  and,  it  is  even  said,  were 

1  "  The  progress  from  deepest  ignorance  to  highest  enlighten 
ment,"  remarks  Herbert  Spencer  in  his  Social  Statics,  "  is  a  pro 
gress  from  entire  unconsciousness  of  law,  to  the  conviction  that 
law  is  universal  and  inevitable." 

2  The  Creeks  had,  according  to  Hawkins,  not  less  than  seven 
sacred  plants ;  chief  of  them  were  the  cassine  yupon,  called  by 
botanists  Ilex  vomitoria,  or  Ilex  casstna,  of  the  natural  order 
Aquifoliacese ;  and  the  blue  flag,  Iris  versicolor,  natural  order 
Iridacese.     The  former  is  a  powerful  diuretic  and  mild  emetic, 

18 


274  THE  NATIVE  PRIESTHOOD. 

cultivated  for  this  purpose.  The  seer  must  work 
himself  up  to  a  prophetic  fury,  or  speechless  lie  in 
apparent  death  before  the  mind  of  the  gods  would  be 
opened  to  him.  Trance  and  ecstasy  were  the  two 
avenues  he  knew  to  divinity;  fasting  and  seclusion 
the  means  employed  to  discover  them.  His  ideal 
was  of  a  prophet  who  dwelt  far  from  men,  without 
need  of  food,  in  constant  communion  with  divinity. 
Such  an  one,  in  the  legends  of  the  Tupis,  resided  on 
a  mountain  glittering  with  gold  and  silver,  near  the 
river  Uaupe,  his  only  companion  a  dog,  his  only 
occupation  dreaming  of  the  gods.  When,  however, 
an  eclipse  was  near,  his  dog  would  bark ;  and  then, 
taking  the  form  of  a  bird,  he  would  fly  over  the  vil 
lages,  and  learn  the  changes  that  had  taken  place.1 

But  man  cannot  trample  with  impunity  on  the 
laws  of  his  physical  life,  and  the  consequences  of 
these  deprivations  and  morbid  excitements  of  the 
brain  show  themselves  in  terrible  pictures.  Not  un- 
frequently  they  were  carried  to  the  pitch  of  raving 
mania,  reminding  one  of  the  worst  forms  of  the  Ber 
serker  fury  of  the  Scandinavians,  or  the  Bacchic 
rage  of  Greece.  The  enthusiast,  maddened  with  the 
fancies  of  a  disordered  intellect,  would  start  forth 
from  his  seclusion  in  an  access  of  demoniac  frenzy. 
Then  woe  to  the  dog,  the  child,  the  slave,  or  the 

and  grows  only  near  the  sea.  The  latter  is  an  active  emeto- 
cathartic,  and  is  abundant  on  swampy  grounds  throughout  the 
Southern  States.  From  it  was  formed  the  celebrated  "  black 
drink,"  with  which  they  opened  their  councils,  and  which 
served  them  in  place  of  spirits. 

1  Martius,  Von  dem  RecJitzustande  unter  den  UreinwoJinern 
Brasiliens,  p.  32. 


THE  DIVINE  MADNESS.  275 

woman  who  crossed  his  path ;  for  nothing  but  blood 
could  satisfy  his  inappeasable  craving,  and  they  fell 
instant  victims  to  his  madness.  But  were  it  a  strong 
man,  he  bared  his  arm,  and  let  the  frenzied  hermit 
bury  his  teeth  in  the  quivering  flesh.  Such  is  a 
scene  at  this  day  not  uncommon  on  the  northwest 
coast,  and  few  of  the  natives  around  Milbank  Sound 
are  without  the  scars  the  result  of  this  horrid 
custom.1 

This  frenzy,  terrible  enough  in  individuals,  had 
its  most  disastrous  effects  when  with  that  peculiar 
facility  of  contagion  which  marks  hysterical  maladies, 
it  swept  through  whole  villages,  transforming  them 
into  bedlams  filled  with  unrestrained  madmen.  Those 
who  have  studied  the  strange  and  terrible  mental 
epidemics  that  visited  Europe  in  the  middle  ages, 
such  as  the  tarantula  dance  of  Apulia,  the  chorea 
Germanorum,  and  the  great  St.  Vitus'  dance,  will  be 
prepared  to  appreciate  the  nature  of  a  scene  at  a  Hu 
ron  village,  described  by  Father  le  Jeune  in  1639.  A 
festival  of  three  days  and  three  nights  had  been  in 
progress  to  relieve  a  woman  who,  from  the  descrip 
tion,  seems  to  have  been  suffering  from  some  obscure 
nervous  complaint.  Toward  the  close  of  this  vigil, 
.which  throughout  was  marked  by  all  sorts  of  de 
baucheries  and  excesses,  all  the  participants  seemed 
suddenly  seized  by  ten  thousand  devils.  They  ran 
howling  and  shrieking  through  the  town,  breaking 
everything  destructible  in  the  cabins,  killing  dogs, 
beating  the  women  and  children,  tearing  their  gar 
ments,  and  scattering  the  fires  in  every  direction  with 

1  Mr.  Anderson,  in  the  Am.  Hist.  Mag.,  vii.  p.  79. 


276  THE  NATIVE  PRIESTHOOD. 

bare  hands  and  feet.  Some  of  them  dropped  senseless, 
to  remain  long  or  permanently  insane,  but  the  others 
continued  until  worn  out  with  exhaustion.  The  Father 
learned  that  during  these  orgies  not  unfrequently 
whole  villages  were  consumed,  and  the  total  extirpa 
tion  of  some  families  had  resulted.  No  wonder  that 
he  saw  in  them  the  diabolical  workings  of  the  prince 
of  evil,  but  the  physician  is  rather  inclined  to  class 
them  with  those  cases  of  epidemic  hysteria,  the 
common  products  of  violent  and  ill-directed  mental 
stimuli.1 

These  various  considerations  prove  beyond  a  doubt 
that  the  power  of  the  priesthood  did  by  no  means 
rest  exclusively  on  deception.  They  indorse  and 
explain  the  assertions  of  converted  natives,  that  their 
power  as  prophets  was  something  real,  and  entirely 
inexplicable  to  themselves.  And  they  make  it  easily 
understood  how  those  'missionaries  failed  who  at 
tempted  to  persuade  them  that  all  this  boasted  power 
was  false.  More  correct  views  than  these  ought  to 
have  been  suggested  by  the  facts  themselves,  for  it  is 

1  Such  spectacles  were  nothing  uncommon.  They  are  fre 
quently  mentioned  in  the  Jesuit  Relations,  and  they  were  the 
chief  obstacles  to  missionary  labor.  In  the  debauches  and  ex 
cesses  that  excited  these  temporary  manias,  in  the  recklessness  of 
life  and  property  they  fostered,  and  in  their  disastrous  effects  on 
mind  and  body,  are  depicted  more  than  in  any  other  one  trait  the 
thorough  depravity  of  the  race  and  its  tendency  to  ruin.  In  the 
quaint  words  of  one  of  the  Catholic  fathers,  "  If  the  old  proverb 
is  true  that  every  man  has  a  grain  of  madness  in  his  composition, 
it  must  be  confessed  that  this  is  a  people  where  each  has  at  least 
half  an  ounce"  (De  Quen,  Eel.  de  la  Nouv.  France,  1656,  p.  27). 
For  the  instance  in  the  text  see  Eel.  de  la  Nouv.  France,  An 
1639,  pp.  88-94. 


THE  PO  WER  OF  THE  PRIESTS.  277 

indisputable  that  these  magicians  did  not  hesitate  at 
times  to  test  their  strength  on  each  other.  In  these 
strange  duels  d  I'outrance,  one  would  be  seated  oppo 
site  his  antagonist,  surrounded  with  the  mysterious 
emblems  of  his  craft,  and  call  upon  his  gods  one  after 
another  to  strike  his  enemy  dead.  Sometimes  one, 
"  gathering  his  medicine,"  as  it  was  termed,  feeling 
within  himself  that  hidden  force  of  will  which  makes 
itself  acknowledged  even  without  words,  would  rise 
in  his  might,  and  in  a  loud  and  severe  voice  command 
his  opponent  to  die !  Straightway  the  latter  would 
drop  dead,  or  yielding  in  craven  fear  to  a  superior 
volition,  forsake  the  implements  of  his  art,  and  with 
an  awful  terror  at  his  heart,  creep  to  his  lodge,  refuse 
all  nourishment,  and  presently  perish.  Still  more 
terrible  was  the  tyranny  they  exerted  on  the  super 
stitious  minds  of  the  masses.  Let  an  Indian  once  be 
possessed  of  the  idea  that  he  is  bewitched,  and  he  will 
probably  reject  all  food,  and  sink  under  the  phantoms 
of  his  own  fancy. 

How  deep  the  superstitious  veneration  of  these 
men  has  struck  its  roots  in  the  soul  of  the  Indian,  it 
is  difficult  for  civilized  minds  to  conceive.  Their 
power  is  currently  supposed  to  be  without  any  bounds, 
"  extending  to  the  raising  of  the  dead  and  the  con 
trol  of  all  laws  of  nature/'1  The  grave  offers  no 
escape  frqm  their  omnipotent  arms.  The  Sacs  and 
Foxes,  Algonkin  tribes,  think  that  the  soul  cannot 
leave  the  corpse  until  set  free  by  the  medicine  men 
at  their  great  annual  feast;2  and  the  Puelches  of 

1  Schoolcraft,  Indian  Tribes,  v.  p.  423. 

2  J.  M.  Stanley,  in  the  Smithsonian  Miscellaneous  Contribu- 

,  ii.  p.  38. 


278  TEE  NATIVE  PRIESTHOOD. 

Buenos  Ayres  guard  a  profound  silence  as  they  pass 
by  the  tomb  of  some  redoubted  necromancer,  lest 
they  should  disturb  his  repose,  and  suffer  from  his 
malignant  skill.1 

While  thus  investigating  their  real  and  supposed 
power  over  the  physical  and  mental  world,  their 
strictly  priestly  functions,  as  performers  of  the  rites 
of  religion,  have  not  been  touched  upon.  Among 
the  ruder  tribes  these,  indeed,  were  of  the  most  rudi 
mentary  character.  Sacrifices,  chiefly  in  the  form  of 
feasts,  where  every  one  crammed  to  his  utmost, 
dances,  often  winding  up  with  the  wildest  scenes  of 
licentiousness,  the  repetition  of  long  and  monotonous 
chants,  the  making  of  the  new  fire,  these  are  the  cere 
monies  that  satisfy  the  religious  wants  of  savages. 
The  priest  finds  a  further  sphere  for  his  activity  in 
manufacturing  and  consecrating  amulets  to  keep  off 
ill  luck,  in  interpreting  dreams,  and  especially  in 
lifting  the  veil  of  the  future.  In  Peru,  for  example, 
they  were  divided  into  classes,  who  made  the  vari 
ous  means  of  divination  specialties.  Some  caused  the 
idols  to  speak,  others  derived  their  foreknowledge 
from  words  spoken  by  the  dead,  others  predicted  by 
leaves  of  tobacco  or  the  grains  and  juice  of  cocoa, 
while  to  still  other  classes,  the  shapes  of  grains  of 
maize  taken  at  random,  the  appearance  of  animal  ex 
crement,  the  forms  assumed  by  the  smoke  rising 
from  burning  victims,  the  entrails  and  viscera  of  ani 
mals,  the  course  taken  by  a  certain  species  of  spider, 
the  visions  seen  in  drunkeness,  the  flights  of  birds, 
and  the  directions  in  which  fruits  would  fall,  all 

1  D'Orbigny,  ISHomme  Amcricain,  ii.  p.  81. 


ADMISSION  TO  THE  PRIESTHOOD,  279 

offered  so  many  separate  fields  of  prognostication, 
the  professors  of  which,  were  distinguished  by  differ 
ent  ranks  and  titles.1 

As  the  intellectual  force  of  the  nation  was  chiefly 
centred  in  this  class,  they  became  the  acknowledged 
depositaries  of  its  sacred  legends,  the  instructors  in 
the  art  of  preserving  thought;  and  from  their  duty 
to  regulate  festivals,  sprang  the  observation  of  the 
motions  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  the  adjustment  of  the 
calendars,  and  the  pseudo-science  of  judicial  astro 
logy.  The  latter  was  carried  to  as  subtle  a  pitch  of 
refinement  in  Mexico  as  in  the  old  world ;  and  large 
portions  of  the  ancient  writers  are  taken  up  with  ex 
plaining  the  method  adopted  by  the  native  astrolo 
gers  to  cast  the  horoscope,  and  reckon  the  nativity  of 
the  newly-born  infant. 

How  was  this  superior  power  obtained?  What 
were  the  terms  of  admission  to  this  privileged  class  ? 
In  the  ruder  communities  the  power  was  strictly  per 
sonal.  It  was  revealed  to  its  possessor  by  the  cha 
racter  of  the  visions  he  perceived  at  the  ordeal  he 
passed  through  on  arriving  at  puberty;  and  by  the 
northern  nations  was  said  to  be  the  manifestation  of 
a  more  potent  personal  spirit  than  ordinary.  It  was 
not  a  faculty,  but  an  inspiration;  not  an  inborn 
strength,  but  a  spiritual  gift.  The  curious  theory  of 
the  Dakotas,  as  recorded  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Pond, 
was  that  the  necromant  first  wakes  to  conscious 
ness  as  a  winged  seed,  wafted  hither  and  thither  by 
the  intelligent  action  of  the  Four  Winds.  In  this 
form  he  visits  the  homes  of  the  different  classes  of 

1  See  Balboa,  Hist,  du  Perou,  pp.  28-30. 


280  THE  NATIVE  PRIESTHOOD. 

divinities,  and  learns  the  chants,  feasts,  and  dances, 
which  it  is  proper  for  the  human  race  to  observe,  the 
art  of  omnipresence  or  clairvoyance,  the  means  of  in 
flicting  and  healing  diseases,  and  the  occult  secrets  of 
nature,  man,  and  divinity.  This  is  called  "dreaming 
of  the  gods."  When  this  instruction  is  completed, 
the  seed  enters  one  about  to  become  a  mother,  as 
sumes  human  form,  arid  in  due  time  manifests  his 
powers.  Four  such  incarnations  await  it,  each  of  in 
creasing  might,  and  then  the  spirit  returns  to  its  origi 
nal  nothingness.  The  same  necessity  of  death  and  re 
surrection  was  entertained  by  the  Eskimos.  To  be 
come  of  the  highest  order  of  priests,  it  was  supposed 
requisite,  says  Bishop  Egede,  that  one  of  the  lower 
order  should  be  drowned  and  eaten  by  sea  monsters. 
Then,  when  his  bones,  one  after  another,  were  all 
washed  ashore,  his  spirit,  which  meanwhile  had  been 
learning  the  secrets  of  the  invisible  world,  would  re 
turn  to  them,  and,  clothed  in  flesh,  he  would  go  back 
to  his  tribe.  At  other  times  a  vague  and  indescriba 
ble  longing  seizes  a  young  person,  a  morbid  appetite 
possesses  them,  or  they  fall  a  prey  to  an  inappeasable 
and  aimless  restlessness,  or  a  causeless  melancholy. 
These  signs  the  old  priests  recognize  as  the  expres 
sion  of  a  personal  spirit  of  the  higher  order.  They 
take  charge  of  the  youth,  and  educate  him  to  the 
mysteries  of  their  craft.  For  months  or  years  he  is 
condemned  to  entire  seclusion,  receiving  no  visits  but 
from  the  brethren  of  his  order.  At  length  he  is  ini 
tiated  with  ceremonies  of  more  or  less  pomp  into  the 
brotherhood,  and  from  that  time  assumes  that  gravity 
of  demeanor,  sententious  style  of  expression,  and 
general  air  of  mystery  and  importance,  everywhere 


A  HEREDITARY  PRIESTHOOD.  281 

deemed  so  eminently  becoming  in  a  doctor  and  a 
priest.  A  peculiarity  of  the  Moxos  was,  that  they 
thought  none  designated  for  the  office  but  such  as 
had  escaped  from  the  claws  of  the  South  American 
tiger,  which,  indeed,  it  is  said  they  worshipped  as  a 
god.1 

Occasionally,  in  very  uncultivated  tribes,  some 
family  or  totem  claimed  a  monopoly  of  the  priest 
hood.  Thus,  among  the  Nez  Perces  of  Oregon,  it 
was  transmitted  in  one  family  from  father  to  son  and 
daughter,  but  always  with  the  proviso  that  the  chil 
dren  at  the  proper  age  reported  dreams  of  a  satisfac 
tory  character.2  Perhaps  alone  of  the  Algonkin 
tribes  the  Shawnees  confined  it  to  one  totem,  but  it 
is  remarkable  that  the  greatest  of  their  prophets, 
Elskataway,  brother  of  Tecumseh,  was  not  a  member 
of  this  clan.  From  the  most  remote  times,  the  Chero- 
kees  have  had  one  family  set  apart  for  the  priestly 
office.  This  was  when  first  known  to  the  whites  that 
of  the  Nicotani,  but  its  members,  puffed  up  with 
pride  and  insolence,  abused  their  birthright  so  shame 
fully,  and  prostituted  it  so  flagrantly  to  their  own 
advantage,  that  with  savage  justice  they  were  massa 
cred  to  the  last  man.  Another  wras  appointed  in  their 
place  who  to  this  day  officiates  in  all  religious  rites. 
They  have,  however,  the  superstition,  possibly  bor 
rowed  from  Europeans,  that  the  seventh  son  is  a  natu 
ral  born  prophet,  with  the  gift  of  healing  by  touch.3 
Adair  states  that  their  former  neighbors,  the  Choc- 

1  D'Orbigny,  L"1  Homme  Americain,  ii.  p.  235. 

2  Schoolcraft,  Ind.  Tribes,  v.  p.  052. 

3  Dr.  Mac  Gowan,  in  the  Amer.  Hist.  Mag.,  x.  p.  139  ;  Whip- 
pie,  Rep.  on  the  Ind.  Tribes,  p.  35. 


28  2  THE  NA  TI VE  PRIEST  HO  OD. 

taws,  permitted  the  office  of  high  priest,  or  Great- 
Beloved  Man,  to  remain  in  one  family,  passing  from 
father  to  eldest  son,  and  the  very  influential  piaches 
of  the  Carib  tribes  very  generally  transmitted  their 
rank  and  position  to  their  children. 

In  ancient  Anahnac  the  prelacy  was  as  systematic 
and  its  rules  as  well  defined,  as  in  the  Church  of  Rome. 
Except  those  in  the  service  of  Huitzilopochtli,  and 
perhaps  a  few  other  gods,  none  obtained  the  priestly 
office  by  right  of  descent,  but  were  dedicated  to  it 
from  early  childhood.  Their  education  was  com 
pleted  at  the  Calmecac,  a  sort  of  ecclesiastical  college, 
where  instruction  was  given  in  all  the  wisdom  of  the 
ancients,  and  the  esoteric  lore  of  their  craft.  The  art 
of  mixing  colors  and  tracing  designs,  the  ideographic 
writing  and  phonetic  hieroglyphs,  the  songs  and 
prayers  used  in  public  worship,  the  national  tradi 
tions  and  the  principles  of  astrology,  the  hidden 
meaning  of  symbols  and  the  use  of  musical  instru 
ments,  all  formed  parts  of  the  really  extensive  course 
of  instruction  they  there  received.  When  they  mani 
fested  a  satisfactory  acquaintance  with  this  curricu 
lum,  they  were  appointed  by  their  superiors  to  such 
positions  as  their  natural  talents  and  the  use  they  had 
made  of  them  qualified  them  for,  some  to  instruct 
children,  others  to  the  service  of  the  temples,  and 
others  again  to  take  charge  of  what  we  may  call 
country  parishes.  Implicit  subordination  of  all  to 
the  high  priest  of  Huitzilopochtli,  hereditary  pontifex 
maximus,  chastity,  or  at  least  temperate  indulgence 
in  pleasure,  gravity  of  carriage,  and  strict  attention 
to  duty,  were  laws  laid  upon  all. 

The  state  religion  of  Peru  was  conducted  under  the 


THE  ROBES  OF  OFFICE.  233 

supervision  of  a  high  priest  of  the  Inca  family,  and 
its  ministers,  as  in  Mexico,  could  be  of  either  sex,  and 
hold  office  either  by  inheritance,  education,  or  elec 
tion.  For  political  reasons,  the  most  important  posts 
were  usually  enjoyed  by  relatives  of  the  ruler,  but 
this  was  usage,  not  law.  It  is  stated  by  Garcilasso 
de  la  Yega1  that  they  served  in  the  temples  by  turns, 
each  being  on  duty  the  fourth  of  a  lunar  month  at  a 
time.  Were  this  substantiated  it  would  offer  the  only 
example  of  the  regulation  of  public  life  by  a  week  of 
seven  days  to  be  found  in  the  New  World. 

In  every  country  there  is  perceptible  a  desire  in 
this  class  of  men  to  surround  themselves  with  mys 
tery,  and  to  concentrate  and  increase  their  power  by 
forming  an  intimate  alliance  among  themselves. 
They  affected  singularity  in  dress  and  a  professional 
costume.  Bartram  describes  the  junior  priests  of  the 
Creeks  as  dressed  in  white  robes  and  carrying  on 
their  head  or  arm  "  a  great  owlskin,  stuffed  very  in 
geniously,  as  an  insignia  of  wisdom  and  divination. 
These  bachelors  are  also  distinguishable  from  the 
other  people  by  their  taciturnity,  grave  and  solemn 
countenance,  dignified  step,  and  singing  to  themselves 
songs  or  hymns,  in  a  low  sweet  voice,  as  they  stroll 
about  the  towns."2  The  priests  of  the  civilized 
nations  adopted  various  modes  of  dress  to  typify  the 
divinity  which  they  served,  and  their  appearance  was 
often  in  the  highest  degree  unprepossessing. 

To  add  to  their  self-importance  they  pretended  to 
converse  in  a  tongue  different  from  that  used  in 

1  Hist,  des  Incas,  lib.  iii.  ch.  22. 

2  Travels  in  the  Carolinas,  p.  504. 


284  THE  NATIVE  PRIESTHOOD. 

ordinary  life,  and  the  chants  containing  the  prayers 
and  legends  were  often  in  this  esoteric  dialect.  Frag 
ments  of  one  or  two  of  these  have  floated  down  to 
us  from  the  Aztec  priesthood.  The  travellers  Balboa 
and  Coreal,  mention  that  the  temple  services  of  Peru 
were  conducted  in  a  language  not  understood  by  the 
masses,1  and  the  incantations  of  the  priests  of  Pow- 
hatan  were  not  in  ordinary  Algonkin,  but  some 
obscure  jargon.3  The  same  peculiarity  has  been  ob 
served  among  the  Dakotas  and  Eskimos,  and  in  these 
nations,  fortunately,  it  fell  under  the  notice  of  com 
petent  linguistic  scholars,  who  have  submitted  it  to 
a  searching  examination.  The  results  of  their  labors 


— . 


1  Hist,  du  Perou,  p.  128 ;   Voiages  aux  Indes  Occidentals,  ii. 
p.  97. 

2  Beverly,  Hist,  de  la  Virginie,  p.  266.     The  dialect  he  specifies 
is  "celle  d'Occaniches,"  and  on  page  252  he  says,  "  On  dit  que 
la  langue  universelle  des  Indiens  de  ces  Quartiers  est  celle  des 
Occaniches,  quoiqu'ils   ne  soient   qu'une   petite   Nation,  depuis 
que  les  Anglois  connoissent  ce  Pais ;  mais  je  ne  sais  pas  la  dif 
ference  qui'l  y  a  entre  cette  langue  et  celle  des  Algonkins." 
(French  trans.,  Orleans,  1707.)     This  is  undoubtedly  the  same 
people  that  Johannes  Lederer,  a  German  traveller,  visited  in 
1670,  and  calls  Akenatzf.     They  dwelt  on  an  island,  in  a  branch 
of  the  Chowan  River,  the  Sapona,  or  Deep  River  (Lederer's  Dis 
covery  of  North  America,  in  Harris,  Voyages,  p.  20).     Thirty 
years  later  the   English  surveyor,  Lawson,  found  them  in  the 
same  spot,  and  speaks  of  them  as  the  Acanechos  (see  Am.  Hist. 
Mag.,  i.  p.  163).     Their  totem  was  that  of  the  serpent,  and  their 
name  is  not  altogether  unlike  the  Tuscarora  name  of  this  animal 
usquauhne.     As  the  serpent  was  so  widely  a  sacred  animal,  this 
gives   Beverly's  remarks   an  unusual   significance.     It    by  no 
means  follows  from  this  name  that  they  were  of  Iroquois  descent. 
Lederer  travelled  with  a  Tuscarora  (Iroquois)  interpreter,  who 
gave  them  their  name  in  his  own  tongue.     On  the  contrary,  it  is 
extremely  probable  that  they  were  an  Algonkin  totem,  which 
had  the  exclusive  right  to  the  priesthood. 


THE  ESOTERIC  LANGUAGE.  285 

prove  that  certainly  in  these  two  instances  the  sup 
posed  foreign  tongues  were  nothing  more  than  the 
ordinary  dialects  of  the  country  modified  by  an 
affected  accentuation,  by  the  introduction  of  a  few 
cabalistic  terms,  and  by  the  use  of  descriptive  cir 
cumlocutions  and  figurative  words  in  place  of  ordi 
nary  expressions,  a  slang,  in  short,  such  as  rascals 
and  pedants  invariably  coin  whenever  they  associate.1 

All  these  stratagems  were  intended  to  shroud  with 
impenetrable  secrecy  the  mysteries  of  the  brother 
hood.  With  the  same  motive,  the  priests  formed 
societies  of  different  grades  of  illumination,  only  to 
be  entered  by  those  willing  to  undergo  trying  ordeals, 
whose  secrets  were  not  to  be  revealed  under  the 
severest  penalties.  The  Algonkins  had  three  such 
grades,  the  wauleno,  the  meda,  and  the  jossaJceed,  the 
last  being  the  highest.  To  this  no  white  man  was 
ever  admitted.  All  tribes  appear  to  have  been  con 
trolled  by  these  secret  societies.  Alexander  von 
Humboldt  mentions  one,  called  that  of  the  Botuto  or 
Holy  Trumpet,  among  the  Indians  of  the  Orinoko, 
whose  members  must  vow  celibacy  and  submit  to 
severe  scourgings  and  fasts.  The  Collahuayas  of 
Peru  were  a  guild  of  itinerant  quacks  and  magicians, 
who  never  remained  permanently  in  one  spot. 

Withal,  there  was  no  class  of  persons  who  so 
widely  and  deeply  influenced  the  culture  and  shaped 
the  destiny  of  the  Indian  tribes,  as  their  priests.  In 
attempting  to  gain  a  true  conception  of  the  race's 

1  Riggs,  Gram,  and  Diet,  of  the  Dakota,  p.  ix ;  Kane,  Second 
Grinnell  Expedition,  ii.  p.  127.  Paul  Egede  gives  a  number  of 
words  and  expressions  in  the  dialect  of  the  sorcerers,  NacJirichten 
von  Gronland,  p.  122. 


286  THE  NATIVE  PRIESTHOOD. 

capacities  and  history,  there  is  no  one  element  of 
their  social  life  which  demands  closer  attention  than 
the  power  of  these  teachers.  Hitherto,  they  have 
been  spoken  of  with  a  contempt  which  I  hope  this 
chapter  shows  is  unjustifiable.  However  much  we 
may  deplore  the  use  they  made  of  their  skill,  we 
must  estimate  it  fairly,  and  grant  it  its  due  weight  in 
measuring  the  ..influence  of  the  religious  sentiment 
on  the  history  of  man. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

THE    INFLUENCE   OF    THE    NATIVE    KELIGIONS    ON    THE 
MORAL    AND    SOCIAL    LIFE    OF    THE    RACE. 

Natural  religions  hitherto  considered  of  Evil  rather  than  of  Good. — Dis 
tinctions  to  be  drawn. — Morality  not  derived  from  religion. — The  posi 
tive  side  of  natural  religions  in  incarnations  of  divinity. — Examples. — 
Prayers  as  indices  of  religious  progress. — Religion  and  social  advance 
ment. — Conclusion. 

TVRAWINGr  toward  the  conclusion  of  my  essay,  I 
-^  am  sensible  that  the  vast  field  of  American  my 
thology  remains  for  most  part  untouched — that  I 
have  but  proved  that  it  is  not  an  absolute  wilderness, 
pathless  as  the  tropical  jungles  which  now  conceal 
the  temples  of  the  race ;  but  that,  go  where  we  will, 
certain  landmarks  and  guide-posts  are  visible,  re 
vealing  uniformity  of  design  and  purpose,  and  re 
futing,  by  their  presence,  the  oft-repeated  charge  of 
entire  incoherence  and  aimlessness.  It  remains  to 
examine  the  subjective  power  of  the  native  religions, 
their  influence  on  those  who  held  them,  and  the  place 
they  deserve  in  the  history  of  the  race.  What  are 
their  merits,  if  merits  they  have?  what  their  demerits  ? 
Did  they  purify  the  life  and  enlighten  the  mind,  or 
the  contrary  ?  Are  they  in  short  of  evil  or  of  good  ? 
The  problem  is  complex — its  solution  most  difficult. 
The  author  who  of  late  years  has  studied  most  pro 
foundly  the  savage  races  of  the  globe,  expresses  the 
discouraging  conviction:  "Their  religions  have  not 


288  INFLUENCE  OF  NATIVE  RELIGIONS. 

acted  as  levers  to  raise  them  to  civilization;  they 
have  rather  worked,  and  that  powerfully,  to  impede 
every  step  in  advance,  in  the  first  place  by  ascribing 
everything  unintelligible  in  nature  to  spiritual  agency, 
and  then  by  making  the  fate  of  man  dependent  on 
mysterious  and  capricious  forces,  not  on  his  own  skill 
and  foresight."1 

It  would  ill  accord  with  the  theory  of  mythology 
which  I  have  all  along  maintained  if  this  verdict 
were  final.  But  in  fact  these  false  doctrines  brought 
with  them  their  own  antidotes,  at  least  to  some  ex 
tent,  and  while  we  give  full  weight  to  their  evil,  let 
us  also  acknowledge  their  good.  By  substituting 
direct  divine  interference  for  law,  belief  for  know 
ledge,  a  dogma  for  a  fact,  the  highest  stimulus  to 
mental  endeavor  was  taken  away.  Nature,  to  the 
heathen,  is  no  harmonious  whole  swayed  by  eternal 
principles,  but  a  chaos  of  causeless  effects,  the  mean 
ingless  play  of  capricious  ghosts.  He  investigates 
not,  because  he  doubts  not.  All  events  are  to  him 
miracles.  Therefore  his  faith  knows  no  bounds,  and 
those  who  teach  that  doubt  is  sinful  must  contem 
plate  him  with  admiration.  The  damsels  of  Nica 
ragua  destined  to  be  thrown  into  the  seething  craters 
of  volcanoes,  went  to  their  fate,  says  Pascual  de 
Andagoya,  "happy  as  if  they  were  going  to  be 
saved,"2  and  doubtless  believing  so.  The  subjects  of 
a  Central  American  chieftain,  remarks  Oviedo,  "  look 
upon  it  as  the  crown  of  favors  to  be  permitted  to  die 
with  their  cacique,  and  thus  to  acquire  immortality."3 

1  Waitz,  Anthropologie  der  Naturvoelker,  i.  p.  459. 

2  Navarrete,  Viages,  iii.  p.  415. 

3  Relation  de  Cueba,  p.  140.     Ed.  Ternaux-Compans. 


TOLERANCE  OF  NATURAL  RELIGIONS.  239 

The  terrible  power  exerted  by  the  priests  rested,  as 
they  themselves  often  saw,  largely  on  the  implicit 
and  literal  acceptance  of  their  dicta. 

In  some  respects  the  contrast  here  offered  to  en 
lightened  nations  is  not  always  in  favor  of  the  latter. 
Borrowing  the  pointed  antithesis  of  the  poet,  the  mind 
is  often  tempted  to  exclaim — 

"This  is  all 

The  gain  we  reap  from  all  the  wisdom  sown 
Through  ages :  Nothing  doubted  those  first  sons 
Of  Time,  while  we,  the  schooled  of  centuries, 
Nothing  believe." 

But  the  complaint  is  unfounded.  Faith  is  dearly 
bought  at  the  cost  of  knowledge ;  nor  in  a  better 
sense  has  it  yet  gone  from  among  us.  Far  more  sub 
lime  than  any  known  to  the  barbarian  is  the  faith  of 
the  astronomer,  who  spends  the  nights  in  marking 
the  seemingly  wayward  motions  of  the  stars,  or  of 
the  anatomist,  who  studies  with  unwearied  zeal  the 
minute  fibres  of  the  organism,  each  upheld  by  the 
unshaken  conviction  that  from  least  to  greatest 
throughout  this  universe,  purpose  and  order  every 
where  .prevail. 

Natural  religions  rarely  offer  more  than  this  nega 
tive  opposition  to  reason.  They  are  tolerant  to  a 
degree'.  The  savage,  void  of  any  clear  conception  of 
a  supreme  deity,  sets  up  no  claim  that  his  is  the  only 
true  church.  If  he  is  conquered  in  battle,  he  imagines 
that  it  is  owing  to  the  inferiority  of  his  own  gods  to 
those  of  his  victor,  and  he  rarely  therefore  requires 
any  other  reasons  to  make  him  a  convert.  Acting  on 
this  principle,  the  Incas,  when  they  overcame  a 
strange  province,  sent  its  most  venerated  idol  for  a 
19 


290  INFLUENCE  OF  NATIVE  RELIGIONS. 

time  to  the  temple  of  the  Sun  at  Cuzco,  thus  proving 
its  inferiority  to  their  own  divinity,  but  took  no  more 
violent  steps  to  propagate  their  creeds.1  So  in  the 
city  of  Mexico  there  was  a  temple  appropriated  to 
the  idols  of  conquered  nations  in  which  they  were 
shut  up,  both  to  prove  their  weakness  and  prevent 
them  from  doing  mischief.  A  nation,  like  an  indi 
vidual,  was  not  inclined  to  patronize  a  deity  who  had 
manifested  his  incompetence  by  allowing  his  charge 
to  be  gradually  worn  away  by  constant  disaster.  As 
far  as  can  now  be  seen,  in  matters  intellectual,  the 
religions  of  ancient  Mexico  and  Peru  were  far  more 
liberal  than  that  introduced  by  the  Spanish  conquer 
ors,  which,  claiming  the  monopoly  of  truth,  sought 
to  enforce  its  claim  by  inquisitions  and  censorships. 

In  this  view  of  the  relative  powers  of  deities  lay  a 
potent  corrective  to  the  doctrine  that  the  fate  of  man 
was  dependent  on  the  caprices  of  the  gods.  For  no 
belief  was  more  universal  than  that  which  assigned 
to  each  individual  a  guardian  spirit.  This  invisible 
monitor  was  an  ever  present  help  in  trouble.  He 
suggested  expedients,  gave  advice  and  warning  in 
dreams,  protected  in  danger,  and  stood  ready  to  foil 
the  machinations  of  enemies,  divine  or  human.  With 
unlimited  faith  in  this  protector,  attributing  to  him 
the  devices  suggested  by  his  own  quick  wits  and  the 
fortunate  chances  of  life,  the  savage  escaped  the 
oppressive  thought  that  he  was  the  slave  of  demoniac 
forces,  and  dared  the  dangers  of  the  forest  and  the 
war  path  without  anxiety. 

By  far  the  darkest  side  of  such  a  religion  is  that 
which  it  presents  to  morality.  The  religious  sense 

1  La  Vega,  Hist,  des  Incas,  liv.  v.  cap.  12. 


THE  MEANING  OF  SACRIFICE.  291 

is  by  no  means  the  voice  of  conscience.  The  Takahli 
Indian  when  sick  makes  a  full  and  free  confession  of 
sins,  but  a  murder,  however  unnatural  and  unpro 
voked,  he  does  not  mention,  not  counting  it  crime.1 
Scenes  of  brutal  licentiousness  were  approved  and 
sustained  throughout  the  continent  as  acts  of  worship  ; 
maidenhood  was  in  many  parts  freely  offered  up  or 
claimed  by  the  priests  as  a  right ;  in  Central  America 
twins  were  slain  for  religious  motives ;  human  sacri 
fice  was  common  throughout  the  tropics,  and  was  not 
unusual  in  higher  latitudes;  cannibalism  was  often 
enjoined ;  and  in  Peru,  Florida,  and  Central  America 
it  was  not  uncommon  for  parents  to  slay  their  own 
children  at  the  behest  of  a  priest.2  The  philosophical 
moralist,  contemplating  such  spectacles,  has  thought 
to  recognize  in  them  one  consoling  trait.  All  his 
tory,  it  has  been  said,  shows  man  living  under  an 
irritated  God,  and  seeking  to  appease  him  by  sacrifice 
of  blood ;  the  essence  of  all  religion,  it  has  been 
added,  lies  in  that  of  which  sacrifice  is  the  symbol, 
namely,  in  the  offering  up  of  self,  in  the  rendering 
up  of  our  will  to  the  will  of  God.3  But  sacrifice, 

1  Morse,  Eep.  on  the  Ind.  Tribes,  App.  p.  345. 

2  Ximenes,  Origen  de  los  Indios  de  Guatemala,  p.  192  ;  Acosta, 
Hist,  of  the  New  World,  lib.  v.  chap.  18. 

3  Joseph  de  Maistre,  Eclaircissement  sur  les  Sacrifice*  ;  Trench, 
Hulsean  Lectures,  p.  180.      The  famed  Abbe  Lammennais  and 
Professor  Sepp,  of  Munich,  with  these  two  writers,  may  be  taken 
as  the  chief  exponents  of  a  school  of  mythologists,  all  of  whom 
start  from  the  theories  first  laid  down  by  Count  de  Maistre  in  his 
Soirees  de  St.  Petersbourg.     To  them  the  strongest  proof  of 
Christianity  lies  in  the  traditions  and  observances  of  heathen 
dom.     For  these  show  the  wants  of  the  religious  sense,  and 
Christianity,  they  maintain,  purifies  and  satisfies  them  all.     The 
rites,  symbols,  and  legends  of  every  natural  religion,  they  say, 


292  INFLUENCE  OF  NATIVE  RELIGIONS. 

when  not  a  token  of  gratitude,  cannot  be  thus  ex 
plained.  It  is  not  a  rendering  up,  but  a  substitution 
of  our  will  for  God's  will.  A  deity  is  angered  by 
neglect  of  his  dues ;  he  will  revenge,  certainly,  terri 
bly,  we  know  not  how  or  when.  But  as  punishment 
is  all  he  desires,  if  we  punish  ourselves  he  will  be 
satisfied ;  and  far  better  is  such  self-inflicted  torture 
than  a  fearful  looking  for  of  judgment  to  come. 
Craven  fear,  not  without  some  dim  sense  of  the  im 
placability  of  nature's  laws,  is  at  its  root.  Looking 
only  at  this  side  of  religion,  the  ancient  philosopher 
averred  that  the  gods  existed  solely  in  the  apprehen 
sions  of  their  votaries,  and  the  moderns  have  asserted 
that  "  fear  is  the  father  of  religion,  love  her  late-born 
daughter;"1  that  "the  first  form  of  religious  belief  is 
nothing  else  but  a  horror  of  the  unknown,"  and  that 
"no  natural  religion  appears  to  have  been  able  to 
develop  from  a  germ  within  itself  anything  whatever 
of  real  advantage  to  civilization."2 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  excuse  the  enormities  thus 
committed  under  the  garb  of  religion,  or  to  ignore 
their  disastrous  consequences  on  human  progress. 
Yet  this  question  is  a  fair  one— If  the  natural  reli 
gious  belief  has  in  it  no  germ  of  anything  better, 

are  true  and  not  false  ;  all  that  is  required  is  to  assign  them  their 
proper  places  and  their  real  meaning.  Therefore  the  strange 
resemblances  in  heathen  myths  to  what  is  revealed  in  the  Scrip 
tures,  as  well  as  the  ethical  anticipations  which  have  been  found 
in  ancient  philosophies,  all,  so  far  from  proving  that  Christianity 
is  a  natural  product  of  the  human  mind,  in  fact,  are  confirmations 
of  it,  unconscious  prophecies,  and  presentiments  of  the  truth. 

1  Alfred  Maury,  La  Magieet  VAstrologie  dans  V  Antiquite  et  au 
Moyen  Age,  p.  8 :  Paris,  1860. 

2  Waitz,  Anthropologie^  i.  pp.  325,  465. 


THE  TRUTH  OF  NATURAL  RELIGION.  293 

whence  comes  the  manifest  and  undeniable  improve 
ment  occasionally  witnessed — as,  for  example,  among 
the  Toltecs,  the  Peruvians,  and  the  Mayas?  The 
reply  is,  by  the  influence  of  great  men,  who  cultivated 
within  themselves  a  purer  faith,  lived  it  in  their 
lives,  preached  it  successfully  to  their  fellows,  and, 
at  their  death,  still  survived  in  the  memory  of  their 
nation,  unforgotten  models  of  noble  Qualities.1 
Where,  in  America,  is  any  record  of  such  men? 
We  are  pointed,  in  answer,  to  Quet'zalcoatl,  Vira- 
cocha,  Zamna,  and  their  congeners.  But  these  august 
figures  I  have  shown  to  be  wholly  mythical,  creations 
of  the  religious  fancy,  parts  and  parcels  of  the  earliest 
religion  itself.  The  entire  theory  falls  to  nothing, 
therefore,  and  we  discover  a  positive  side  to  natural 
religions — one  that  conceals  a  germ  of  endless  pro 
gress,  which  vindicates  their  lofty  origin,  and  proves 
that  He  "is  not  far  from  every  one  of  us." 

I  have  already  analyzed  these  figures  under  their 
physical  aspect.  Let  it  be  observed  in  what  antithesis 
they  stand  to  most  other  mythological  creations. 
Let  it  be  remembered  that  they  primarily  correspond 
to  the  stable,  the  regular,  the  cosmical  phenomena, 
that  they  are  always  conceived  under  human  form, 
not  as  giants,  fairies,  or  strange  beasts;  that  they 
were  said  at  one  time  to  have  been  visible  leaders  of 
their  nations,  that  they  did  not  suffer  death,  and  that, 
though  absent,  they  are  ever  present,  favoring  those 
who  remain  mindful  of  their  precepts.  I  touched 
but  incidentally  on  their  moral  aspects.  This  was 
likewise  in  contrast  to  the  majority  of  inferior  deities. 

1  So  says  Dr.  Waitz,  ibid.,  p.  465. 


2  04  INFL  HENCE  OF  NAT  I VE  EEL  IGIOXS. 

The  worship  of  the  latter  was  a  tribute  extorted  by 
fear.  The  Indian  deposits  tobacco  on  the  rocks  of  a 
rapid,  that  the  spirit  of  the  swift  waters  may  not 
swallow  his  canoe;  in  a  storm  he  throws  overboard 
a  dog  to  appease  the  siren  of  the  angry  waves.  He 
used  to  tear  the  hearts  from  his  captives  to  gain  the 
favor  of  the  god  of  war.  He  provides  himself  with 
talismans  to  bind  hostile  deities.  He  fees  the  con 
jurer  to  exorcise  the  demon  of  disease.  He  loves 
none  of  them,  he  respects  none  of  them  ;  he  only  fears 
their  wayward  tempers.  They  are  to  him  myste 
rious,  invisible,  capricious  goblins.  But,  in  his 
highest  divinity,  he  recognized  a  Father  and  a  Pre 
server,  a  benign  Intelligence,  who  provided  for  him 
the  comforts  of  life — man,  like  himself,  yet  a  god — 
God  of  All.  "  Go  and  do  good,"  was  the  parting 
injunction  of  his  father  to  Michabo  in  Algonkin 
legend  j1  and  in  their  ancient  and  uncorrupted  stories 
such  is  ever  his  object.  "The  worship  of  Tamu," 
the  culture  hero  of  the  Guaranis,  says  the  traveller 
D'Orbigny,  "  is  one  of  reverence,  not  of  fear."2  They 
were  ideals,  summing  up  in  themselves  the  best 
traits,  the  most  approved  virtues  of  whole  nations, 
and  were  adored  in  a  very  different  spirit  from  other 
divinities. 

JSTone  of  them  has  more  humane  and  elevated  traits 
than  Quetzalcoatl.  He  was  represented  of  majestic 
stature  and  dignified  demeanor.  In  his  train  came 
skilled  artificers  and  men  of  learning.  He  was  chaste 
and  temperate  in  life,  wise  in  council,  generous  of 

1  Sclioolcraft,  Algic  Researches,  i.  p.  143. 

2  L'Homme  Americain,  ii.  p.  319. 


THE  TRUTH  OF  NATURAL  RELIGIONS.  295 

gifts,  conquering  rather  by  arts  of  peace  than  of  war ; 
delighting  in  music,  flowers,  and  brilliant  colors,  and 
so  averse  to  human  sacrifices  that  he  shut  his  ears 
with  both  hands  when  they  were  even  mentioned.1 
Such  was  the  ideal  man  and  supreme  god  of  a  people 
who  even  a  Spanish  monk  of  the  sixteenth  century 
felt  constrained  to  confess  were  "a  good  people, 
attached  to  virtue,  urbane  and  simple  in  social  inter 
course,  shunning  lies,  skilful  in  arts,  pious  toward 
their  gods."2  Is  it  likely,  is  it  possible,  that  with 
such  a  model  as  this  before  their  minds,  they  received 
no  benefit  from  it?  Was  not  this  a  lever,  and  a 
mighty  one,  lifting  the  race  toward  civilization  and 
a  purer  faith  ? 

Transfer  the  field  of  observation  to  Yucatan,  and 
we  find  in  Zamna,  to  New  Granada  and  in  Nemque- 
teba,  to  Peru  and  in  Viracocha,  or  his  reflex  Manco 
Capac,  the  lineaments  of  Quetzalcoatl — modified,  in 
deed,  by  difference  of  blood  and  temperament,  but 
each  combining  in  himself  all  the  qualities  most 
esteemed  by  their  several  nations.  Were  one  or  all 
of  these  proved  to  be  historical  personages,  still  the 
fact  remains  that  the  primitive  religious  sentiment, 
investing  them  with  the  best  attributes  of  humanity, 
dwelling  on  them  as  its  models,  worshipping  them  as 
gods,  contained  a  kernel  of  truth  potent  to  encourage 
moral  excellence.  But  if  they  were  mythical,  then 
this  truth  was  of  spontaneous  growth,  self-developed 
by  the  growing  distinctness  of  the  idea  of  Grod,  a 
living  witness  that  the  religious  sense,  like  every 

1  Brasseur,  Hist,  du  Mexique,  liv.  iii.  chaps.  1  and  2. 

2  Saliagun,  Hist,  de  la  JWueva  EspaTia,  lib.  .  .  cap.  29. 


296  INFLUENCE  OF  NATIVE  RELIGIONS. 

other  faculty,  has  within  itself  a  power  of  endless 
evolution. 

If  we  inquire  the  secret  of  the  happier  influence  of 
this  element  in  natural  worship,  it  is  all  contained  in 
one  word — its  humanity.  "  The  Ideal  of  Morality," 
says  the  contemplative  Novalis,  "has  no  more  dan 
gerous  rival  than  the  Ideal  of  the  Greatest  Strength, 
of  the  most  vigorous  life,  the  Brute  Ideal"  (das  Thier- 
IdeaT).1  Culture  advances  in  proportion  as  man  re 
cognizes  what  faculties  are  peculiar  to  him  as  man, 
and  devotes  himself  to  their  education.  The  moral 
value  of  religions  can  be  very  precisely  estimated  by 
the  human  or  the  brutal  character  of  their  gods.  The 
worship  of  Quetzalcoatl  in  the  city  of  Mexico  was 
subordinate  to  that  of  lower  conceptions,  and  conse 
quently  the  more  sanguinary  and  immoral  were  the 
rites  there  practised.  The  Algonkins,  who  knew  no 
other  meaning  for  Michabo  than  the  Great  Hare,  had 
lost,  by  a  false  etymology,  the  best  part  of  their 
religion. 

Looking  around  for  other  standards  wherewith  to 
measure  the  progress  of  the  knowledge  of  divinity  in 
the  New  World,  prayer  suggests  itself  as  one  of  the 
least  deceptive.  "  Prayer,"  to  quote  again  the  words  of 
Novalis,2  "  is  in  religion  what  thought  is  in  philoso 
phy.  The  religious  sense  prays,  as  the  reason  thinks." 
Guizot,  carrying  the  analysis  farther,  thinks  that  it  is 
prompted  by  a  painful  conviction  of  the  inability  of 
our  will  to  conform  to  the  dictates  of  reason.3  Origin 
ally  it  was  connected  with  the  belief  that  divine 

1  Novalis,  Schriften,  i.  p.  244 :  Berlin,  1837. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  267. 

3  Hist,  de  la  Civilisation  en  France,  i.  pp.  122,  ICO. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  PRAYERS.  297 

caprice,  not  divine  law,  governs  the  universe,  and 
that  material  benefits  rather  than  spiritual  gifts  are 
to  be  desired.  The  gradual  recognition  of  its  limita 
tions  and  proper  objects  marks  religious  advance 
ment.  The  Lord's  Prayer  contains  seven  petitions, 
only  one  of  which  is  for  a  temporal  advantage,  and  it 
the  least  that  can  be  asked  for.  What  immeasura 
ble  interval  between  it  and  the  prayer  of  the  Nootka 
Indian  on  preparing  for  war  ! — • 

"  Great  Quahootze,  let  me  live,  not  be  sick,  find 
the  enemy,  not  fear  him,  find  him  asleep,  and  kill  a 
great  many  of  him."1 

Or  again,  between  it  and  the  petition  of  a  Huron  to 
a  local  god,  heard  by  Father  Brebeuf : — 

"  Old,  thou  who  livest  in  this  spot,  I  offer  thee 
tobacco.  Help  us,  save  us  from  shipwreck,  defend 
us  from  our  enemies,  give  us  a  good  trade,  and  bring 
us  back  safe  and  sound  to  our  villages."2 

This  is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  supplications  of  the 
lowest  religion.  Another  equally  authentic  is  given 
by  Father  Allouez.3  In  1670  he  penetrated  to  an 
outlying  Algonkin  village,  never  before  visited  by  a 
white  man.  The  inhabitants,  startled  by  his  pale 
face  and  long  black  gown,  took  him  for  a  divinity. 
They  invited  him  to  the  council  lodge,  a  circle  of  old 
men  gathered  around  him,  and  one  of  them,  approach 
ing  him  with  a  double  handful  of  tobacco,  thus  ad 
dressed  him,  the  others  grunting  approval : — 

1  Narrative  of  J.   R.   Jewett  among  the   Savages    of  Nootka 
Sound,  p.  121. 

2  Eel.  de  la  Nouv.  France,  An  1630,  p.  109. 

3  Ibid.,  An  1670,  p.  99. 


298  INFLUENCE  OF  NATIVE  RELIGIONS. 

11  This,  indeed,  is  well,  Blackrobe,  that  them  dost 
visit  us.  Have  mercy  upon  us.  Thou  art  a  Manito. 
We  give  thee  to  smoke. 

"  The  Nando wessies  and  Iroquois  are  devouring 
us.  Have  mercy  upon  us. 

"  We  are  often  sick ;  our  children  die ;  we  are 
hungry.  Have  mercy  upon  us.  Hear  me,  0  Manito, 
I  give  thee  to  smoke. 

"  Let  the  earth  yield  us  corn ;  the  rivers  give  us 
fish ;  sickness  not  slay  us ;  nor  hunger  so  torment  us. 
Hear  us,  O  Manito,  we  give  thee  to  smoke." 

In  this  rude  but  touching  petition,  wrung  from  the 
heart  of  a  miserable  people,  nothing  but  their 
wretchedness  is  visible.  Not  the  faintest  trace  of  an 
aspiration  for  spiritual  enlightenment  cheers  the  eye 
of  the  philanthropist,  not  the  remotest  conception 
that  through  suffering  we  are  purified  can  be  de 
tected. 

By  the  side  of  these  examples  we  may  place  the 
prayers  of  Peru  and  Mexico,  forins  composed  by  the 
priests,  written  out,  committed  to  memory,  and  re 
peated  at  certain  seasons.  They  are  not  less  authen 
tic,  having  been  collected  and  translated  in  the  first 
generation  after  the  conquest.  One  to  Viracocha 
Pachacamac,  was  as  follows  : — 

"  O  Pachacamac,  thou  who  hast  existed  from  the 
beginning  and  shalt  exist  unto  the  end,  powerful  and 
pitiful;  who  createdst  man  by  saying,  let  man  be; 
who  defendest  us  from  evil  and  preservest  our  life 
and  health ;  art  thou  in  the  sky  or  in  the  earth,  in 
the  clouds  or  in  the  depths  ?  Hear  the  voice  of  him 
who  implores  thee,  and  grant  him  his  petitions.  Give 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  PRAYERS.  2'^9 

us  life  everlasting,  preserve  us,  and  accept  this  our 
sacrifice."1 

In  the  voluminous  specimens  of  Aztec  prayers 
preserved  by  Sahagun,  moral  improvement,  the  "  spi 
ritual  gift,"  is  very  rarely  if  at  all  the  object  desired. 
Health,  harvests,  propitious  rains,  release  from  pain, 
preservation  from  dangers,  illness,  and  defeat,  these 
are  the  almost  unvarying  themes.  But  here  and  there 
we  catch  a  glimpse  of  something  better,  some  dim 
sense  of  the  divine  beauty  of  suffering,  some  feeble 
glimmering  of  the  grand  truth  so  nobly  expressed  by 
the  poet : — 

aus  cles  Busens  Tiefe  stromt  Gedeihn 

Der  festen  Duldung  und  entschlossner  That. 

Nicht  Schmerz  1st  Ungliick,  Gliick  nicht  immer  Freude  ; 

Wer  sein  Geschick  erftillt,  dem  lacheln  beide. 

li  Is  it  possible,"  says  one  of  them,  "  that  this  scourge, 
this  affliction,  is  sent  to  us  not  for  our  correction  and 
improvement,  but  for  our  destruction  and  annihila 
tion?  O  Merciful  Lord,  let  this  chastisement  with 
which  thou  hast  visited  us,  thy  people,  be  as  those 
which  a  father  or  mother  inflicts  on  their  children,  not 
out  of  anger,  but  to  the  end  that  they  may  be  free 
from  follies  and  vices."  Another  formula,  used  when 
a  chief  was  elected  to  some  important  position,  reads : 
"  O  Lord,  open  his  eyes  and  give  him  light,  sharpen 
his  ears  and  give  him  understanding,  not  that  he  may 

1  Geronimo  de  Ore,  Symbolo  Catholico  Indiana,  chap,  ix., 
quoted  by  Ternaux-Compans.  De  Ore  was  a  native  of  Peru  and 
held  the  position  of  Professor  of  Theology  in  Cuzco  in  the  latter 
half  of  the  sixteenth  century.  He  was  a  man  of  great  erudition, 
and  there  need  be  no  hesitation  in  accepting  this  extraordinary 
prayer  as  genuine.  For  his  life  and  writings  see  Nic.  Antonio, 
Bib.  Hisp.  Nova,  toin.  ii.  p.  43. 


300  INFLUENCE  OF  NATIVE  RELIGIONS. 

use  them  to  his  own  advantage,  but  for  the  good  of 
the  people  he  rules.  Lead  him  to  know  and  to  do 
thy  will,  let  him  be  as  a  trumpet  which  sounds  thy 
words.  Keep  him  from  the  commission  of  injustice 
and  oppression."1 

At  first,  good  and  evil  are  identical  with  pleasure 
and  pain,  luck  and  ill-luck.  "  The  good  are  good 
warriors  and  hunters,"  said  a  Pawnee  chief,2  which 
would  also  be  the  opinion  of  a  wolf,  if  he  could  ex 
press  it.  Gradually  the  eyes  of  the  rnind  are  opened, 
and  it  is  perceived  that  "whom  He  loveth,  He 
chastiseth,'^  and  physical  give  place  to  moral  ideas  of 
good  and  evil.  Finally,  as  the  idea  of  God  rises  more 
distinctly  before  the  soul,  as  "  the  One  by  whom,  in 
whom,  and  through  whom  all  things  are,"  evil  is  seen 
to  be  the  negation,  not  the  opposite  of  good,  and  itself 
"  a  porch  oft  opening  on  the  sun." 

The  influence  of  these  religions  on  art,  science,  and 
social  life,  must  also  be  weighed  in  estimating  their 
value. 

Nearly  all  the  remains  of  American  plastic  art, 
sculpture,  and  painting,  were  obviously  designed  for 
religious  purposes.  Idols  of  stone,  wood,  or  baked 
clay,  were  found  in  every  Indian  tribe,  without  ex 
ception,  so  far  as  I  can  judge;  and  in  only  a  few  di 
rections  do  these  arts  seem  to  have  been  applied  to 
secular  purposes.  The  most  ambitious  attempts  of 
architecture,  it  is  plain,  were  inspired  by  religious 
fervor.  The  great  pyramid  of  Cholula,  the  enormous 
mounds  of  the  Mississippi  valley,  the  elaborate  edi 
fices  on  artificial  hills  in  Yucatan,  were  miniature 

1  Saliagun,  Hist,  de  la  Nueva  Espana,  lib.  vi.  caps.  1,  4. 

2  Morse,  Rep.  on  the  Ind.  Tribes,  App.  p.  250. 


RELIGION  AND  ART.  301 

representations  of  the  mountains  hallowed  by  tradi 
tion,  the  "Hill  of  Heaven,"  the  peak  on  which  their 
ancestors  escaped  in  the  flood,  or  that  in  the  terrestrial 
paradise  from  which  flow  the  rains.  Their  construc 
tion  took  men  away  from  war  and  the  chase,  encou 
raged  agriculture,  peace,  and  a  settled  disposition, 
and  fostered  the  love  of  property,  of  country,  and  of 
the  gods.  The  priests  were  also  close  observers  of 
nature,  and  were  the  first  to  discover  its  simpler 
laws.  The  Aztec  sages  were  as  devoted  star-gazers 
as  the  Chaldeans,  and  their  calendar  bears  unmis 
takable  marks  of  native  growth,  and  of  its  original 
purpose  to  fix  the  annual  festivals.  Writing  by 
means  of  pictures  and  symbols  was  cultivated  chiefly 
for  religious  ends,  and  the  word  hieroglyph  is  a  wit 
ness  that  the  phonetic  alphabet  was  discovered  under 
the  stimulus  of  the  religious  sentiment.  Most  of  the 
aboriginal  literature  was  composed  and  taught  by 
the  priests,  and  most  of  it  refers  to  matters  connected 
with  their  superstitions.  As  the  gifts  of  votaries  and 
the  erection  of  temples  enriched  the  sacerdotal  order 
individually  and  collectively,  the  terrors  of  religion 
were  lent  to  the  secular  arm  to  enforce  the  rights  of 
property.  Music,  poetic,  scenic,  and  historical  reci 
tations,  formed  parts  of  the  ceremonies  of  the  more 
civilized  nations,  and  national  unity  was  strengthened 
by  a  common  shrine.  An  active  barter  in  amulets, 
lucky  stones,  and  charms,  existed  all  over  the  conti 
nent,  to  a  much  greater  extent  than  we  might  think. 
As  experience  demonstrates  that  nothing  so  efficiently 
promotes  civilization  as  the  free  and  peaceful  inter 
course  of  man  with  man,  I  lay  particular  stress  on 
the  common  custom  of  making  pilgrimages. 


302  INFLUENCE  OF  NATIVE  RELIGIONS. 

The  temple  on  the  island  of  Cozumel  in  Yucatan 
was  visited  every  year  by  such  multitudes  from  all 
parts  of  the  peninsula,  that  roads,  paved  with  cut 
stones,  had  been  constructed  from  the  neighboring 
shore  to  the  principal  cities  of  the  interior.1  Each 
village  of  the  Muyscas  is  said  to  have  had  a  beaten 
path  to  Lake  Guatavita,  so  numerous  were  the  de 
votees  who  journeyed  to  the  shrine  there  located.2 
In  Peru  the  temples  of  Pachacama,  Kimac,  and  other 
famous  gods,  were  repaired  to  by  countless  numbers 
from  all  parts  of  the  realm,  and  from  other  provinces 
within  a  radius  of  three  hundred  leagues  around. 
Houses  of  entertainment  were  established  on  all  the 
principal  roads,  and  near  the  temples,  for  their  ac 
commodation;  and  when  they  made  known  the 
object  of  their  journey,  they  were  allowed  a  safe 
passage  even  through  an  enemy's  territory.3 

The  more  carefully  we  study  history,  the  more  im 
portant  in  our  eyes  will  become  the  religious  sense. 
It  is  almost  the  only  faculty  peculiar  to  man.  It 
concerns  him  nearer  than  aught  else.  It  is  the  key 
to  his  origin  and  destiny.  As  such  it  merits  in  all 
its  developments  the  most  earnest  attention,  an  atten 
tion  we  shall  find  well  repaid  in  the  clearer  concep 
tions  we  thus  obtain  of  the  forces  which  control  the 
actions  and  fates  of  individuals  and  nations. 

1  Cogolludo,  Hut.  de  Yucathan,  lib.  iv.  cap.  9.     Compare  Ste 
phens,  Travs.  in  Yucatan,  ii.  p.  122,  who  describes  the  remains 
of  these  roads  as  they  now  exist. 

2  Rivero  and  Tschudi,  Antiqs.  of  Peru,  p.  162. 

3  La  Vega,  Hist,  des  Incas,  lib.  vi.  chap.  30 ;  Xeres,  Eel.  de  la 
Conq.  du  Perou,  p.  151 ;  Let.  sur  les  Superstit.  du  Perou,  p.  98, 
and  others. 


INDEX. 


ABNAKIS,  174 

Acagchemem,    a    Californian 

tribe,  105 

Age  of  man  in  America,  35-37 

Ages  of  the  world,  213  sq. 

Akakanet,  61 

Akanzas,  238 

Akenatzi,  284 

Algonkins,  location,  26 

name  of  God,  58  n. 

mythical  ancestors,  77 

veneration  of  birds,  103 

of  serpents, 

108,  109,  113,  116 

myths  and  rites,  133,  136,  144, 

147,  151,  161,  174,   198,  209, 

220,  224,  236,  240,  244,  248, 

277,  297 

Aluberi,  a  name  of  God,  58  n. 

Anahuac,  29,  282 

Angont,  a  mythical  serpent,        136 
Apalachian  tribes,  27,  225 

Apocatequil,  a  Peruvian  deity,    153 
Ararats,  of  America,  203 

Araucanians, 

name  of  God,  48,61 

myths,  204,  248 

Arks,  255 

Arowacks,  58  n. 

Ataensic,  an  Iroquois  deity, 

123,  131,  170 

Ataguju,  or  Atachuchu,  152 

Atatarho,    mythical    Iroquois 

chief,  118  t 

Athapascan  tribes,  24  j 

myths,  104,  150,  195,  205,  229, 
248,  257 

Atl,  an  Aztec  deity,  131 

Aurora  borealis,  245 

Aymaras,  31,  34,  177 

Aztecs,   their   books   and   cha 
racters, 
divisions,  29 


Aztecs — 

names  of  God,         48,  50,  58  n. 

government,  69 

rites,  72,  126,  127,  147 

calendar,  74 

worship  of  cross,  95 

names  of  cardinal  points,        93 

worship  of  birds,   102,  106,  107 

of  serpents,  111 

myths,    132,  133,  134,  138,  144, 

156,  171,   181,   205,   214  sq., 

227,  240,  246,  248,  252,  258 

priests,  282 

prayers,  292 

Aztlan,  181 

BACAB,  Maya  gods,  80 

Baptism,  125  seq. 

Bimini,  87 

Bird,  symbol  of, 

101  sq.,  195  sq.,  229,  254 
Blue,  symbolic  meaning  of,  47 

Bochica,  183 

Boiuca,  a  mythical  isle,  87 

Bones,  preservation  of,  255 

soul  in  the,  257 

Botocudos,  123,  201 

Brasseur,  Abbe,  his  works,  41 

Brazilian  tribes,  102,  134,  250 

(See  Tupts,  Botocudos  ) 
Busk,  a  Creek  festival,  71,  96 

CADDOES,  93,  203 

Camaxtli,  158 

Cardinal  points,  adoration  of,  67  sq. 

names  of,  ^  93  sq. 

Caribs,  32 

theory  of  lightning,       104,  114 

myths  and  rites, 

145,  184,  223,  237,  244,  256 

priests,  282 

Catequil.     (See  Apocatequil.} 
Centeotl,  goddess  of  maize,    22,  134 


3C4 


INDEX. 


Chac,  Maya  gods,  80 

Chulchihuitlycue,  an  Aztec  god,  123 

Chantico,  an  Aztec  god,  138 

Cherokees,  location,  25 

name  of  God,  51 

serpent  myth,  115 

baptism,  128 

deluge,  205 

priests,  281 

Chia,  goddess  of  Muyscas,  134 

Chichimec,  139  n.,  158 

Chicomoztoc,  the  Seven  Caves,    227 

Chicunoapa,  the  Aztec  Styx,       249 

Chipeways,  picture-writing,  10 

records,  17 

magicians,  71 

myths,  163,  168 

Choctaws,  location,  27 

name  of  God,  51 

myths,  84  n.,  225,  261 

priests,  281 

Cholula,  180,  181,  204,  228 

Cihuacoatl,  the  Serpent  Woman,  120 

Cihuapipilti,  246 

Circumcision,  147 

Citatli,  131 

Clairvoyance,  269 

Coatlicue,  118 

Colors,  symbolism  of, 

47,  80,  140,  165 

Con  or  Contici,  155,  176 

Coxcox,  202 

Craniology,  American,  35 

Creation,  myths  of,  193  seq. 

Creeks,  location,  27 

name  of  God,  50 

rites,  71,  96 

mythical  ancestors,  77 

serpent  myth,  115 

other  myths,  137,  225,  242,  244 

priests,  273,  283 

Cross,  symbolic  meaning  of, 

95-7,  183,  188 

ofPalenque,  1181 

Cupay,  the  Quichua  Pluto,     61,  251 
Cusic,  his  Iroquois  legends, 63, 108  n. 

DAKOTAS,  location,  28 

rites,        A  71 

language,  75 

mythical  ancestors,  77 

myths,  62,  103,  133,  150,  237, 
259,  279 

Dawn,  myths  of,  166,  167,  175,  227 

Delawares,  140  n.,  144 

(See  Lenni  Lenape.) 


Deluge,  myth,  origin,  etc.,  198-212 
Devil,  idea  of  unknown  to  red 

race,  59,  251 

Divination,  278 

Dobayba,  123 

Dog,  as  a  symbol,  137,  229,  247-9 
Dove,  as  a  a  symbol,  107 

Dualism,  moral,  not  found   in 

America,  59 

sexual  not  found,  146 

EAGLE,  as  a  symbol,  104 

East,  myths,  concerning, 

91,  165,  174,  180 
(See  Dawn.) 
Eastman,  Mrs.,  her  Legends  of 

the  Sioux,  103 

Eldorado,  87 

Enigorio  and  Enigohahetgea,         63 

Epochs  of  nature,  200  seq. 

Esaugetuh  Emissee,  50 

Eskimos,  location,  23 

name  of  chief  god,  50,  76 

term  for  south,  94 

veneration  of  birds,  101 

myths,   173  n.,  193,   226,   229, 

241,  245,  261,  280 

FEAR  in  religion,  141,  292 

Fire-worship,  140  seq. 

Flood-myth.     (See  Dehige.) 
Florida,  87 

Forty,  a  sacred  number,  94 

Fountain  of  youth,  129 

Four,  the  sacred  number  of  red 
race,  66  sq.,  105,  157,  167,   178, 
182,  184,  240 
Four  brothers,  the  myth  of, 

76-83,  152,  167,  178,  182 

GARONHIA,  Iroquois  deity,  48 
Gizhigooke,  the  day-maker,  169 
Guaranis,  32,  84  n. 

Guatavita  Lake,  124 

Gucumatz,  the  bird-serpent,  118 
Gurnongo,  god  of  the  Monquis,  93 

HAITIANS,  myths  of, 

78,  85,  135,  188 

Hand,  symbol  of  the,  183 

Haokah,  Dakota  thunder  god,  151 
Hawaneu.  (See  Neo.) 

Heaven,  the,  of  the  red  race,  243 

Hell,  the  hidden  world,  252 

Heno,  Iroquois  thunder-god,  156 

Hiawatha,  myth  of,  172 


INDEX. 


305 


Hobbamock,  60 

Huemac,  the  Strong-hand,  181,  183 
Huitzilopochtli,  the  god  of  war, 

118,  282 
Hunting,  its  effect  on  the  mind, 

21,  67,  100 
Hurakan  or  hurricane,  meaning 

of,  51 

a  Maya  god, 

81,  82,  114,  156,  196 
Hurons, 

25,  48, 114, 136,  169,  248,  250,  275 
Hushtoli,  Choctaw  name  of  God,  51 

ILLATICI,   Quichua  name   of 

God,  55,  155 

Incas,  secret  language,  31 

official  title,  69 

ancestors,  82,  153 

arms,  120 

sun-worship,  142 

myths,  188,  191,  244 

loskeha,   supreme  god  of  Iro- 

quois,  63,  170-2 

Iroquois,  location,  25 

name  of  God,  48,  53 

myths  of, 

83,  85,  169-72,  196,  227,  236 
veneration  of  serpents, 

108,  116,  118 

of  fire,  148  , 

Isolation  of  the  red  race,         20,  34 
Itzcuinan,  the  Bitch-Mother,      138  | 

JARVIS,    Dr.,    his    Discourse 

on  American  Religions,  39 

Juripari,  61 

KILLISTENOES,  270 

Kittanitowit,  58,  60 

Ku,  a  name  of  divinity,  46,  47 

Kukulcan,  god  of  air,  118 

LANGUAGES  of  America, 

esoteric  of  priests,  284 

Lenni  Lenape,  26,  96,  161,  231 

Light,  universal  symbol  of  di 
vinity,  173 
Lightning,  the, 

112  seq.,  151  seq.,  168 

MADNESS,  as  inspiration, 

274  seq. 

Magic,  natural,  266 

Maistre,  Joseph  de,  his  theory 
of  mythology,  291,  n. 

20 


Maize,  distribution  of,  22,  37 

Man,  origin  of,  222  sq.,  258 

word  for,  223 

Mandans,   71,  85,  107,  184,  205,  228 

Manibozho.      (See  Mickabo.) 

Mannacicas,  250 

Manoa,  87 

Maues,  111 

Mayas,  alphabet,  13 

location,  30 

calendar,  74,  80 

mythical  ancestors,     79,  80,  85 

myths  and  rites, 

93,  146,  183,  188,  214,  221 
name  of  cross,  97 

Mbocobi,  201 

Meda  worship,  162  n. 

Medicine,  45 

lodge,  267 

men,  264,  277  seq. 

Memory,  cultivated  by  picture- 
writing,  18 
Mesmerism,                                      272 
Messou,                                           209 

(See  Michabo.) 

Metempsychosis,  253 

Mexicans.     (See  Aztecs.) 
Meztli,  132,  135 

Michabo,  supreme  Algonkin  god, 

63,  116,  136,  161-9,  198,  220,  294 
Mictlan,  god  of  the  dead,  92,  252 
Migrations,  course  of,  34 

Milky -way,  244 

Millennium,  261 

Minnetarees,  228,  230,  250 

Mixcoatl,  or  Mixcohuatl, 

22,  51,  158 

Mixtecas,  90,  196 

Monan,  211 

Monquis,  93,  106 

Montezuma,  187,  190 

Moon,  worship  of,  130  seq. 

Moxos,  124,  230 

Muller,  J.  G.,  his  work  on 

American  religions,  40,  59,  61 
Mummies,  257-60 

Muscogees,  195 

(See  Creeks.) 

Muyscas,  31 

myths,  84  n.,  183-4 

NAHUAS,  29,  73 

myths,  84  n.,  118,  138,  158,  206 

(See  Aztecs.) 

Nanahuatl,  135 

Natchez,  27,  28  n. 


306 


INDEX. 


Natchez — 

myths,  126,  142,  149, 

205,  225,  239 

Natural  religions,  3 

Navajos,  79,  84  n,  103,  127,  205,  241 
Neo,  Iroquois  corruption  of  Dieu,  53 
Nemqueteba,  183 

Netelas,  50,  105  n. 

Nez  Perces  272,  281 

Nicaraguans,  145,  158,  201,  245,  288 
Nine  Rivers,  the,  248 

Nootka  Indians,  297 

North,  myths  concerning,  82 

Nottoways,  25,  48 

Numbers,  sacred,  66,  98 

(See  Four,  Three,  Seven.) 

OCCANICHES,  284 

Oki,  name  of  God,  46-8 
Onniont,  a  mythical  serpent,  114 

Onondagas,  171 

Oonawleh  unggi,  51 

Otomis,  6,  158 

Ottawas,  '  93,  145,  161 

Ottoes,  84  n. 

PACARI  TAMPU,  82,  179,  227 
Pachacamac,  56,  176-7,  298 

Panos,  13  | 

Paradise,  myth  of,  86  seq. 

Paria,  87 

Passions,  worship  of,  146,  149 

Pawnees,  71  n.,  84  n.  I 

Pend  d'Oreilles,  233  ; 

Peru.  69 

rites  and  myths,     82,  102,  106,  ' 

131,   132,   137,  138,  142,  149, 

152  sq  ,  176-9,  188,  213,  219,  | 

227,  240,  251,  260 
priests,  278,  282,  284 

(See  Aymaras,  Jncas  ) 
Phallic  worship,  146,  149 

Picture  writing,*  9 

Pilgrimages,  custom  of,  301  \ 

Pimos,  185  ! 

Prayers,  specimens  of,  296-300  j 

Priesthood,  native,  263  sq.  j 

Puelches,  277  j 

QUETZALCOATL,  the  supreme 
Aztec  god,  106,  118,  157, 

180-3,  188,  294-6  ' 

Quiateot,  a  rain  god,  131  j 

Quiches,  30  \ 

Sacred  Book,  41  I 

names  for  God,  51,  58  n.  | 


Quiches — 

evil  deities,  64 
myth  of  first  four  brothers,    81 

of  paradise,  89 

of  creation,  196 

of  flood,  207 

of  hell,  251,  258 

Quichuas,  31 

religion,  55 

ancestors,  82,  1*3 
names  of  cardinal  points,  93  n. 

myths,  155 
(See  Peru,  Incas.) 

Quipus,  14 

RATTLESNAKE,  as  a  symbol, 

108  sq. 
Raven,  as  a  symbol, 

195,  204,  213,  229 
Red,  symbolic  meaning,  80,  88,  140 

SACRIFICE,  its  meaning,  291 

Sacs,  84,  277 

Sanscrit  flood-myth,  212 

Schwarz,  Dr.,  his  views  of 

mythology,  112 

Seminoles,  129 

Serpent,  as  a  symbol, 

107  sq.,  136,  158 

Seven,  a  sacred  number,  66,  128  n., 
202,  204,  273  n.,  281,  283 
Shawnees, 

26,  84  n.,  110,  113,114,144,  281 
Shoshonees.  28,  138 

Sillam  Innua,  50.  76 

Sioux,  28,  151,  236 

Soul,  notions  concerning, 

235  sq.,  277 

Sua,  the  Muysca  God,  184 

Sun-worship,  141  sq.,  149,  243-9 
Suns,  Aztec,  215  sq. 

TAKAHLIS,  127,  197,  201,  253,  256 
Tamu,  184,  294 

Taras,  158 

Taronhiawagon,  171 

Tawiscara,  170 

Teczistecatl,  132 

Teatihuacan,  46,  69 

Three,  a  sacred  number,  66,  98,  156 
Thunder-storm,  in  myths,  150  sq. 
Tici,  the  vase,  130 

Tirnberlake,  Lt.,  his  Memoirs,  115 
Titicaca,  Lake,  124,  178 

Tlacatecolotl,  supposed  Aztec 

Satan,  106 


INDEX. 


307 


Tlaloc,  god  of  rain,       75,  88,  156-7 
Tlalocan,  88,  246 

Tlap'allan,  88,  91,  181 

Tloque  nahuaque,  58  n. 

Tohil,  157 

Toltecs,  29,  180 

Tonacatepec,  88 

Toukaways,  231 

Trinity,  in  American  religions,   156 
Tulan,  88,  89,  181 

Tupa,  32,  84,  152,  185 

Tupis,  32 

myths, 

83  n.,  152, 185,  210,  258,  274 
Twins,  sacred  to  lightning,       153-4 

UNKTAHE,  a  Dakota  god,         133 

VASE,  symbol  of,  130,  155 

Viracocha,  supreme  god  in  Peru, 

124,  155,  177-80 

WAITZ,  DR.,  his  Anthropology, 

40,  288 

Wampum,  15 

AVater,  myths  of,  122  seq.,  194  | 


West,  myths  of, 
White,  as  a  symbol, 
Whiteman's  land, 
Winds,  myths  of, 

49-52,  74  sq.,  9( 
Winnebagoes, 
Witchitas, 
Writing,  modes  of, 

XELHUA, 

Xibalba, 

Xochiquetzal, 

Xolotl, 


92,  93,  166 

165,  174-6 

21  n. 

103,  166,  182 

220 

224 

9-13 

228 

64,  251 
137 
2o8 


YAK  A  MA  language,  50 

Yamo  and  Yama,  twin  deities,  154  n. 
Yoalli-ehecatl,  50 

Yohualticitl,  132 

Yupanqui,  Inca,  55 

Yurucares,  201,  224,  259 

ZAC.  empire  of,  31,  124 

Zamna,  culture  hero  of  Mayas, 

93,  183,  188 


ERRATA. 


Page  31,  note,  for  "TJreinbewohner'1''  read  "Ureinwolmer.'1'' 
"  101,  line  10  from  bottom,  for  "clouds"  read  "clods." 
"  145,  note  I,  for  "  Gomara"  read  "Gumilla." 


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